The Democrat PAC Priorities USA filed a lawsuit against Florida officials — including Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), Attorney General Ashley Moody (R), and Secretary of State Laurel Lee (R) — over the state’s voting laws, contending that certain changes need to be made to make mail-in voting easier for the upcoming November election.
The PAC joined others, including the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans and Alianza for Progress, in challenging certain provisions they believe makes it more difficult for voters to mail in a ballot. They argue that November’s election will bring what Politico described as an “unprecedented spike in demand for mail-in ballots and a reduction of poll workers and elections staff,” citing coronavirus-related concerns.
The groups specifically take aim at the deadline for mail-in ballots, contending that officials should count ballots postmarked by Election Day. They also view the basic requirement for postage as too burdensome. That, in itself, “amounts to a poll tax,” and the “voter assistance ban imposes unreasonable restrictions on speech and the right of association,” Politico explained.
“No Floridian should ever be forced to choose between their health and exercising their right to vote,” Priorities USA Chairman Guy Cecil said in a statement, attributing his call for these changes to the coronavirus.
“Our country faces a once in a lifetime health crisis, local and state leaders need to make sure that every Florida voter has full, equal, and safe access to the ballot box in November,” he added.
The lawsuit coincides with a similar legal challenge lodged by the Dream Defenders and New Florida Majority, which filed a lawsuit in March, demanding officials to extend the vote-by-mail deadline for the primary. With the primary behind Florida voters, the groups have now modified their complaint:
The activists amended their complaint this month to focus on changing protocols for the upcoming elections and to add a group of new plaintiffs, including the LGBTQ+ youth advocacy group Zebra Coalition and Young, who is president of the Florida Council of the Blind.
The new complaint expands the scope of the lawsuit to demand that the state provide more options for people with disabilities and language barriers, expand early voting locations and dates, provide a better online voter registration system, and improve the vote-by-mail process so that it doesn’t disenfranchise groups who have historically had their mailed ballots rejected.
The lawsuits come as progressive dark money groups increase their shadowy efforts to politicize the coronavirus and, specifically, use the fear surrounding the crisis to gain ground on the liberal universal vote-by-mail agenda.
Priorities USA has, in many ways, taken the lead on the vote-by-mail effort, teaming up with the anti-Trump group Organizing Together in airing ads touting their agenda.
As Breitbart News reported:
Trump’s reelection campaign this month slammed an attack ad by the Soros-backed Priorities USA Super PAC, which criticized Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic “by using deceptively edited quotes from briefings and the news media,” as Breitbart News detailed.
That effort — the focused criticism of the president — has now been coupled with what has, until now, remained the left’s dormant scheme to push universal vote-by-mail, which Republicans warn drastically increases the chances of voter fraud and compromises the integrity of elections.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), along with a host of her progressive counterparts, is calling for the next stage of coronavirus relief to include provisions for universal vote-by-mail.
“This is the lifeblood of our democracy, the vote. So here we are trying to protect the lives of American people, the livelihoods of the American people, and also the life of our democracy,” Pelosi said last month.
“That is what we are going to do in the next bill as well,” she vowed.
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