Editorial: Heavy hand of Heritage Foundation guides Florida’s election overhaul

Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, South Florida Sun Sentinel
·4 min read

It’s bad enough that the Republicans who run the Florida Legislature want to make it harder to vote.

But as with so much that goes on in Tallahassee, it’s even worse than it looks. GOP legislators are following a script written by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that wants to institutionalize voter-suppression policies under the myth of “election integrity.” Never mind that Florida’s 2020 election had a record turnout and was a model for the nation with timely results and surprisingly few spoiled ballots. It also produced big Republican victories.

For The Heritage Foundation and its allies in Florida’s Capitol, too many Democrats voted. They want to erect barriers — especially for Black and brown people, who like the convenience of voting by mail and who overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates. “Election integrity” is code for keeping Democrats home.

As The New York Times reports, Heritage Action for America, a partner of The Heritage Foundation, supported the highly controversial voting restrictions that recently became law in Georgia, a state that voted blue in 2020. Heritage Action said the effort was by volunteers. Fresh from that victory, Heritage Action has set its sights on Florida, one of eight states targeted for changes with Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, Texas and Wisconsin.

The Heritage Foundation’s in-house elections specialist is Hans von Spakovsky, an Alabama lawyer and member of the arch-conservative Federalist Society who served on President Donald Trump’s short-lived Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.

Heritage Action officials have confirmed to the Sun Sentinel editorial board that the group is working with Florida legislators. Heritage Action for America’s Florida lobbyist, Karen Jaroch, disclosed the group’s interest in shaping a House election bill, and Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, confirmed he has discussed voting-law changes with Heritage staffers.

This hijacking of Florida’s election law by an out-of-state group with partisan motives is all the more galling as Republicans ignore the professional advice of the true experts: Florida’s 67 county election supervisors. They were not consulted on the changes, which they warn could produce long lines and disruptions at the polls next year.

Florida should be working to help people vote the way they would like to vote, not the way the Heritage Foundation would like for them to vote, as Broward Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott puts it.

The House revamp of election laws (HB 7041) would make it harder to vote by mail; ban the collecting of mail ballots by one person; restrict drop boxes at early voting sites; allow partisan operatives to file case-by-case challenges to signature verification programs; and prohibit people from giving water or snacks to voters, many of them elderly, as they stand in line to vote.

The most troublesome element of Heritage Action for America’s agenda could have been written by Trump himself. It would limit vote-by-mail ballots to those voters “too disabled to vote in person” or who are out of town on Election Day and during early voting. It would abolish Florida’s “no excuse” vote-by-mail system.

A spokesman for Heritage Action for America, Noah Weinrich, told the Sun Sentinel the group wants as many people as possible voting in person — not by mail. Surprise! Voting in person is more popular with Republicans. “We want to encourage in-person voting, because we believe, and the evidence shows, that it’s more secure, less prone to fraud and simplifies the process,” he said.

Florida law enforcement agents have not disclosed any case in which they are investigating a credible allegation of vote-by-mail election fraud.

Gruters struck a different tone last summer, when the Republicans were locked in a series of hard-fought Senate races. “The great thing about living in Florida is you don’t have to have a reason to vote early or to request an absentee ballot,” he said, “so if you don’t feel comfortable, by all means request an absentee ballot.”

Heritage Action urges the Legislature to severely limit the use of drop boxes. “States should require that drop boxes be located in secure settings where they are under 24-hour security, under video surveillance and located in government buildings,” it says. “Video surveillance should be available to designated representatives of candidates and major political parties.”

In upcoming floor debates, Democrats should ask why Republicans are relying on the Heritage Foundation to limit access to the ballot under the guise of “election integrity.” It’s a scam to manipulate turnout while lawmakers ignore the real scam — a felony bribe scheme allegedly orchestrated by ex-Republican Sen. Frank Artiles to rig a Miami Senate race in the GOP’s favor. But we have heard not one word from The Heritage Foundation on that much greater risk to democracy.

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