Florida election supervisors urge DeSantis to ‘act immediately’ to make voting safe amid pandemic

Florida election supervisors are urging Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to take immediate action to help maintain safe voting amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections, a bipartisan group that represents county-level elections supervisors, wrote a letter to DeSantis Wednesday urging him to take federal funds awarded to the state as part of a coronavirus relief bill, the Miami Herald reported. 

“I … want to express my concern that Florida is lagging behind nearly every other state in securing CARES Act funding for elections,” Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer wrote in the letter, according to the Herald. “While we wait, the goods and services we need are becoming scarce.”

Latimer was recently named the president of the association. The supervisors are asking DeSantis to “act immediately” to access the $20.2 million in federal funding for elections in the state, according to the Herald and The Sun Sentinel. 

Wednesday’s letter follows up on one the group reportedly sent in March asking the governor to help supervisors prepare for primary elections in August and the general election in November. 

An official for DeSantis’s office was not immediately available for comment when contacted by The Hill. 

The U.S. Election Commissioner, which is responsible for administering the funds, told the Herald the state legislature is responsible for administering the funds. 

“Florida can’t request disbursement until their state Legislature takes required action,” U.S. Election Assistance Commission communications director Kristen Muthig told the newspaper in an email.

The Republican-controlled legislature in Florida finished its session in March, before the $2 trillion federal coronavirus relief bill that granted the funding became law, and the legislature has not yet been back in session, the Herald noted. 

Some Democratic lawmakers told the newspaper they believe DeSantis’s administration can request the funding without legislative action. 

“To my knowledge, I’m not aware of a single state that requested the funds that took legislative action to request the funds,” state Sen. Gary Farmer said on a press call, according to the Herald. “It would not surprise me that a federal agency under [President] Donald Trump would give that misdirection.”

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) also said the governor can request the funds himself. 

“He should check with his budget folks because there is a budget commission that exists to deal with things like this that come up … between legislative sessions,” Wasserman Schultz told the Herald. “I don’t believe there is a necessity for the Legislature to weigh in.”