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Our government is supposed to be ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’ -- but in the middle of a public health emergency, our government is now making it harder for ‘the people’ to have their voices heard.

Common Cause Florida, the League of Women Voters of Florida and 11 other groups today urged Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to veto SB 1794, a bill that would make it harder for citizens to propose amendment to the state constitution. “Our government is supposed to be ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’ and yet our Legislature is making it harder for the people to have their voices heard,” said Anjenys Gonzalez-Eilert, Executive Director of Common Cause Florida.

The groups’ letter identifies serious racial disparities in Early Voting access in Panama City, as well as other barriers to voting access for African-American and low-wealth voters, many of whom continue to face difficulties recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Michael, which made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane on October 10, 2018.

Floridians expect and deserve to know that state and federal officials are taking proper precautions to safeguard the integrity of election systems. As a perennial election battleground state, we know that we are and will remain a target. New revelations that not one, but two Florida county election systems were breached by Russian hackers during the 2016 election cycle raise serious concerns that must be addressed by state officials and the U.S. Congress.

We are counting on the Governor-elect and legislators to approve these reforms, and others like them, during the upcoming Legislative Session. Florida should be leading the nation and indeed the world with a fair and efficient election process, where every citizens’ vote is counted. Floridians deserve no less.

Today, Common Cause Florida and the League of Women Voters of Florida called on Gov. Rick Scott to immediately remove himself from any role in the recount of the 2018 Florida General Election.  The letter urges Gov. Scott to recognize the clear conflict of interest in overseeing the recount of his own race for the U.S. Senate and recuse himself from any related role or warns that the groups will be forced to immediately seek a formal emergency remedy from the courts.