Florida Republicans Follow Georgia's Jim Crow Lead

 

The good ol' Republican boys in Florida are doing everything they can to rig elections just like in the Jim Crow days:

Florida’s state Senate has passed a bill that includes a number of voter suppression initiatives, following Georgia’s lead in chipping away at voting rights.

Senators in the GOP-led chamber voted 23-17 to pass S.B. 90 on Monday, which is Confederate Memorial Day in the state. The Florida House, which is also led by the GOP, is expected to pass a similar bill later this week, despite concerns from Democrats and voting rights activists that the legislation is part of a nationwide Republican effort to restrict the constitutional right to vote.

The Florida Senate bill criminalizes giving food and water to voters in line, severely restricts where ballot drop boxes can be placed, and limits who can collect and drop off ballots. It also requires voters to first show identification to an election official before casting their ballot, mandates that voters request an absentee ballot for every election, and empowers partisan poll-watchers during the ballot-counting process. 

They're following the same Big Lie script, of course:

Republicans have falsely alleged that the bills are efforts to prevent fraud and restore trust in elections following Democratic President Joe Biden’s victory and two Senate runoffs in Georgia that handed wins to Democrats. Claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent ― especially in cities and suburbs with a substantial Black population ― are lies, with former President Donald Trump’s own officials concluding that it was the most secure election in U.S. history. 

The election also saw record voter turnout ― especially among people of color ― thanks to expanded access to voting and initiatives like ballot drop boxes. That turnout ended up flipping some Republican states blue when it came to the presidential race, including Georgia.

Trump and DeSantis had both previously used and praised mail-in voting, but the Florida governor changed his position after more Democrats than Republicans voted by mail for the first time in his state.

They can't win when people are allowed to vote, so they try to fix it so that it's harder for Democrats to cast ballots.  As they say, it's (Republican) politicians choosing voters rather than voters choosing politicians.

As with the Georgia voter suppression law, this will be challenged in the courts.  But, more importantly, Democrats have tools in the form of H.R. 1/S. 1 (the For the People Act) and the more targeted (and potentially more enactable) John Lewis Voting Rights Act that have the potential to neutralize these Republican efforts to cling to power by rigging the system.  As well, corporations and others doing business in Florida need to rethink and reposition themselves in light of this anti- democratic legislation.

Regardless, these voter suppression efforts are a direct and existential threat to our form of government by a reactionary, racist minority that doesn't share our democratic values.  They're playing for keeps.  They have to be fought tooth and nail.