Southwest Florida Congressional hopeful Cindy Banyai is calling on Gov. Ron DeSantis to direct the Florida Division of Elections to extend the deadlines for qualifying signatures to get on the ballot due to the continued spread of COVID-19.
In order for Congressional candidates to appear on a ballot in Florida they can either pay a $10,440 fee or submit petition signatures from their district with at least 1% of registered voters in that district. Banyai is calling on Gov. DeSantis to cancel the March 23 petition signature submission deadline and the April 20-24 general qualifying period.
Banyai is vying for Florida’s 19th Congressional District seat as a Democrat. U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Naples) currently holds the seat, but announced last year he would not be seeking reelection.
In a statement from her campaign, Banyai said, “By not waiving or extending the deadline for candidates to reach their petition numbers, you are effectively disenfranchising many grassroots funded candidates who are unable to pay for the filings fees.”
