COVID-19 Class Action Says Florida’s Vote-by-Mail Guidelines Are Unfair

Florida citizens have filed suit against the Governor of Florida to ensure all voters have a fair and safe opportunity to vote.

The plaintiffs are allegedly concerned about the voting process during the upcoming primary elections, which are scheduled to be held on Aug. 18, 2020 as well as the general election to be held on Nov. 6, 2020.

The lawsuit states that the coronavirus endangers the citizens of Florida and their right to vote. In fact, the plaintiffs note that all 67 of Florida’s Supervisors of Elections sent a letter to Governor DeSantis outlining the numerous challenges that they will be facing in the upcoming primary and the general election.

The coronavirus lawsuit also maintains that many practices which govern mail voting burdens thousands of voters in the state, and will continue to burden more voters if there is no relief from the court.

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The March 17, 2020 presidential preference primary election (PPP) was held during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic and the plaintiffs claim that county supervisors saw significant challenges.

The plaintiffs maintain that polling places were unavailable, hand sanitizers were in short supply, and a number of poll workers decided not to work. 

The voting lawsuit notes that in Palm Beach County, 800 poll workers backed out shortly before the election, due to fears of contracting the coronavirus. In addition, after the election, two poll workers in Broward County reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus.

The plaintiffs note that Florida’s vote-by-mail program is not equipped to handle the influx of thousands of votes that will be sent in via this method.

In addition, the vote-by-mail program does not provide prepaid postage and it is required that the vote-by-mail ballots be received by 7 p.m. on election day.

These provisions weigh heavily on Florida’s senior citizens, low-income citizens, and student voters, many of whom require assistance with delivering their ballots and do not have easy access to postage, the voters go on to say.

“Not only must a mail voter pay for postage to vote, but they also must acquire the postage, which, in this digital age when many people do not keep stamps at home, often requires a trip to the post office or other essential business,” the Florida voting lawsuit states.

The lawsuit says that citizens who choose to mail in their votes will have to determine the correct amount of postage, which varies depending on the ballot.

In addition, the voters will be forced to travel to local post offices to ask about postage, which will add significant cost to the voting process.

The plaintiffs maintain that trips to the post office could also create risks to exposure of the coronavirus, which is specific for elderly voters who are more susceptible to contracting the virus.

“For elderly voters, voters who have disabilities, who live far from a post office, have limited access to transportation, are immunocompromised or have other high-risk factors for COVID-19, this trip deters them from voting as it may be nearly impossible for some voters to make and for others it poses grave health and safety risks,” the Florida voter lawsuit goes on to say.

Also, the plaintiffs complain that the United States Postal Service (USPS) is facing massive budget shortfalls and its workers are also becoming ill from the coronavirus.

They state that there is no guarantee that voters’ local post offices will be open and available to answer questions.

“It is all but certain that for many voters, the time used to acquire postage or determine the correct postage amount will delay the voting process and place voters at greater risk of disenfranchisement due to the Election Day Receipt Deadline,” the Florida voters lawsuit goes on to say.

The plaintiffs maintain that Florida discarded more than 17,000 ballots in 2018 only because they arrived after the election day deadline.

In addition, the Florida lawsuit says that more than 20,000 voters did not receive their mail-in-vote ballot until a few days before election day.

The Floridians assert that the election day receipt deadline will disenfranchise countless numbers of voters because of the coronavirus.

In addition, the coronavirus lawsuit claims that the ban on voter assistance makes it a misdemeanor for any paid individual to assist in returning more than two vote-by-mail ballots for each election, unless the individual is an immediate family member.

This ban, say the plaintiffs, will become more problematic for the upcoming election because it will be difficult to locate people unaffiliated with political organizations who would be willing to assist voters who need help filling out their ballots.

The plaintiffs are represented by Frederick S. Wermuth of King Blackwell Zehnder & Wermuth PA and Marc E. Elias, John Devaney, Amanda R. Callais, Christina A. Ford, and Lilian Timmermann of Perkins Coie LLP.

The Florida Voters Lawsuit is Kirk Nielson, et al. v. Ron DeSantis, et al., Case No. 4:20-cv-00236-MW-MJF, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

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