Dear Governor DeSantis:
On behalf of All Voting is Local Florida, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., League of Women Voters of Florida, Common Cause Florida, American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Campaign Legal Center, SPLC Action Fund, Advancement Project, The National Congress of Black Women, Women Talk Black, Disability Rights Florida, Voter Protection Corps Education and Advocacy Fund, Inc., The Florida 501(c)(3) Civic Engagement Table, NAACP Florida State Conference, and Voting Rights Lab Action, and, we urge you to issue an Executive Order to take critical steps to ensure that the November 3, 2020 Election is conducted as safely as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As we head towards the November 3, 2020 General Election, it is important to take steps now to guarantee that Florida voters are not forced to choose between their health and their fundamental right to vote and that no eligible voter is disenfranchised due to circumstances outside of their control. For many, casting a ballot in person at a polling place carries an unacceptable risk of contracting COVID-19, yet at the same time, those voters lack confidence that the United States Postal Service will be able to efficiently and reliably deliver the large volume of vote-by-mail ballots expected in the general election.1 Many voters are increasingly concerned that they will not be able to safely cast a ballot and have that ballot counted. Although the August 18, 2020 Primary Election was generally conducted without the significant disruptions to voting that have characterized so many other states’ primaries (like hours-long lines),2 election officials and voters face a constantly changing landscape and must overcome unprecedented challenges.
Read the full letter here.
