Florida lawmakers seek new election security measure for ballot boxes

(The Center Square) — The Florida Legislature has filed a new bill intended to protect election ballots from tampering.

Senate Bill 190 is sponsored by Sen. Ileana Garcia, R-Miami, and it would require a law enforcement officer to transport ballot boxes or transfer containers from an election supervisor to a precinct. This includes all ballots, ballot stubs, memoranda and papers.

The bill states that the supervisor of elections must prepare a sufficiently-sized ballot box at each polling place, marked with the name of the precinct the box will be sent. The box must be supervised by law enforcement at all times during an election until it has been transported to the supervisor.

Once transferred to a precinct, the receiving clerk or inspector will be placed under oath to perform his or her duties without prejudice or favor to any political party.

The bill also says that once votes have been tabulated and confirmed by election inspectors and clerks — who must then draw up a certificate of the results — the election board will then post the voting results of each office.

Law enforcement officers are not permitted inside polling places unless they have permission from the majority of inspectors or the clerk, or are casting their vote.

Since the 2020 elections, laws have been passed in the Sunshine State to ensure election integrity, including forming a special law enforcement agency tasked with investigating election fraud.

SB 7050 was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May. It increased the security around mail-in ballots while enhancing the accuracy of Florida’s voter rolls and improving access to reports and data.

During an interview on The Florida Roundup on Friday, Brian Corley, the Pasco County Supervisor of Elections, told host Daniel Rivero that while he does not support any changes to Florida’s election code, he would support the implementation of a statewide database of felony offenders by the Legislature.

"We want to make sure that those that are registering to vote are eligible, and those that are voting are eligible," Corley said.

Corley added that during the last election, his office was getting pre-filled applications for mail-in ballots from groups in Washington, D.C., which included voters who had not lived at that address for 10 years, deceased people, children and pets.