Sen. Bill Nelson is meeting with elections supervisors in Florida this week after a new state directive limited where absentee ballots can be collected.
For years, local supervisors have collected those ballots in sealed, locked ballot boxes at satellite voting sites like libraries. The new state rule would prohibit that. In Tampa Tusday, Nelson told reporters it's not a partisan issue but one about voting access.
"This is so obvious that it is making it harder to vote for average folks whether they're Republican or Democrat that we ought to stop this nonsense", said Nelson. "And I'm so proud of people like Craig and Mrs. Clark for standing up and saying I'm not going to do this."Hillsborough Elections Supervisor Craig Latimer and Pinellas Elections Supervisor Deborah Clark have both stated they plan to ignore the new state directive.
They say satellite drop-off sites for absentee ballots have been used for years with no problems. They are an alternative for voters who don't trust the mail and have difficulty traveling to the elections office.