Lee County’s plans to make absentee voting easier have been put on hold thanks to a recent state directive changing absentee ballot rules.
Secretary of State Ken Detzner told the Florida’s 67 election supervisors last week that going forward, absentee ballots can only be delivered to their main office.
This new rule effectively closes down absentee ballot drop-off sites, which are used by the more populace counties.
Lee County Elections Supervisor Sharon Harrington said it also affects her plans to make absentee voting easier following the county’s 2012 general election, which was plagued by long lines at the polls.
“We were actually looking into setting up drop boxes all over the county—in our main office our branch offices, and possibly in the libraries,” she said. “So, the directive that came out that says that says we cannot do that definitely has put a halt to that plan.”
Harrington said her new elections plan was part of an effort to avoid a repeat of the county’s heavily-criticized management of the 2012 election.
This rule-change has already spurred some outrage among voting rights groups and Pinellas County’s election officials recently announced they are going to ignore the order.
Harrington said a statewide group of elections supervisors are going to meet next week to discuss how to handle this new rule. She said they might even consider turning to the Florida Legislature.
“I think what we would do if this was a directive that is not changeable or will not be changed-- then I believe our association as a whole would probably be looking to see legislation passed that would actually allow it under Florida election laws,” she said.
Harrington said in her county, as well as throughout the state, absentee voting has grown in popularity. She said she thinks it’s a good idea to make that form of voting as easy as possible.
