Almost 1 million Florida voters declared inactive after law purging voter lists

Share
Vote By Mail sign, Florida
Vote By Mail and voter registration sign in Pinellas County. By Seán Kinane/WMNF News (Oct. 2018).

Listen:

Nearly 1 million registered voters have been dropped from Florida’s active voter rolls since 2022, and 2023 law might have something to do with this.

Senate Bill 7050 toughened requirements for maintaining lists of voters, and added severe restrictions to third-party voter registration and mail-in voting.

This led to the large number of registered voters being dropped from active voter rolls, according to news site Florida Bulldog.

Some argued that the law was voter suppression. The League of Women Voters of Florida sued last year, saying the new restrictions are overbroad, vague, and violate the First Amendment.

However, In Hillsborough County, Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer says it’s making voter lists more efficient.

“What we’re seeing is that these people basically weren’t here. They weren’t living here anymore, they had moved on. Nobody thinks the very first thing they’re going to do when they move is to contact the Supervisor of Elections and let them know”

He says just because voters are declared inactive, doesn’t mean they can’t vote.

“It means they’re going to stay in that inactive status through two general elections. If they do nothing, then they’ll be removed. But anytime during those two general elections, they can walk in and vote, they can request a vote by mail ballot if they sign a petition, any action at all will move them back active again.”

Latimer encourages voters to keep their information up to date.

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

The Scoop: Fri. Feb. 14, 2025, Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF

Roundup of WMNF news headlines including Ron DeSantis, Florida inmate...

FPREN cold weather
Toasty Florida will become rainy Florida; more cold fronts are on the way

On Sunday night Florida will get a cold front that...

American flag Memorial Day Gulfport Boca Ciega Bay clouds
Florida governor orders flags lowered on the Parkland anniversary

Flags be flown at half-staff to honor the victims of...

Crisis Center of Tampa Bay launches opiod recovery program

The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay’s Transcare Medical Transportation Division...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Ultrasounds Radio Show with Eluv
Player position: