Amid new ballot drop boxes limits, Florida's shorter hours cause voting rights worry

Robert Brigham, a retired math professor at the University of Central Florida, has difficulty waiting in line to vote because he was concerned about the lack of access to a clean restroom after his treatment for colorectal cancer. But he prefers to drop off his ballot in person because he had a couple of bill payments get lost in the mail.

"I have a medical condition that literally makes me scared to be far from a bathroom," Brigham said. "When there are more boxes available, I have more ability of where to go to drop off my ballot . I like short distances."

Brigham was one of 1.5 million Floridians who dropped off their absentee ballots in 2020 and he would like to again this year. Florida adopted restrictions for drop boxes in 2021 to strengthen election security, even though studies found the boxes secure and trustworthy.

The new law required election staffers to monitor drop-off locations during early voting hours, which eliminated some curbside boxes and ended the possibility of stopping by after regular working hours or on most weekends.

Florida was one of 28 states that adopted 67 laws to make it harder to vote since 2020, when former President Donald Trump falsely claimed the election was stolen through fraud, according to a roundup by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. Trump especially targeted ways of voting other than in person, on Election Day, such as voting by mail or in drop boxes.

Voting rights advocates worry the changes governing drop boxes will discourage elderly and disabled voters, who might find it too difficult to navigate crowds and lines to cast ballots.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said he signed the law to “strengthen the security of our elections." Lawmakers said they wanted to prevent potential problems even if the 2020 voting went smoothly.

The law included measures such as rejecting the use of private funds for election expenses, prohibiting the distribution of mail-in ballots unless the voter requested it and requiring the monitoring of drop boxes. Florida's county elections supervisors opposed the law , saying it was unnecessary because the 2020 vote count was secure and accurate, and the new law's requirements could be expensive.

Advocacy groups including the League of Women Voters, Black Voters Matter Fund and the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans challenged the changes in federal court.

"It's an outrage and completely unnecessary," Cecile Scoon, co-president of the League of Women Voters in Florida said of the law.

But federal courts upheld the law despite one judge finding it restricted the way Black voters cast ballots with “surgical precision.”

States grapple with banning, restoring drop boxes

Since the 2020 election, at least seven states prohibited drop boxes directly or by requiring absentee ballots to be returned by mail or in person to election officials. The restrictions included Texas in 2021 ; Missouri and South Carolina in 2022; and Arkansas , New Mexico , North Carolina and South Dakota in 2023.

In another 2021 move, Georgia reduced its number of drop boxes and NPR found the four most populous counties would have 25 boxes, down from the previous 107. The same year, Indiana required drop boxes to be under the supervision and control of county election officials. Ohio enacted a law this year limiting locations where voters can return absentee ballots to one per county, which could include a drop box.

In Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court's conservative majority ruled in July 2022 that state law didn't allow drop boxes anywhere but in election clerk offices. But the new liberal majority restored the use of absentee ballot drop boxes in a 4-3 ruling in the swing state on July 5.

“We are elated by the Wisconsin Supreme Court's decision to allow the use of ballot drop boxes in future elections,” said Ross Winklbauer, president of the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans. “Older voters in Wisconsin are most likely to vote absentee, and drop boxes are a secure, convenient way for them to return those ballots on time.

Trump fiercely criticized drop boxes − until after GOP setbacks in 2020, 2022

Trump spurred changes in election law such as Florida's with baseless claims of widespread fraud. But he has changed his position on drop boxes and mail-in ballots after fiercely opposing them in the last two elections when the GOP suffered setbacks.

“So now the Democrats are using Mail Drop Boxes, which are a voter security disaster,” Trump tweeted in August 2020.

“Remember, you can never have fair & free elections with mail-in ballots – never, never, never,” Trump posted in all caps in November 2022. “Won’t and can’t happen!!!”

In 2020, Democrats won the White House and Senate and kept control of the House. In 2022, Republicans underperformed expectations for the out-of-power party in a midterm election, narrowly winning control of the House, while Democrats gained a seat in the Senate.

Trump changed course by February 2023 , responding to the suggestion that Republicans support putting them in the back of every church where it’s legal.

“Best idea I’ve heard in a long time,” Trump said in an all-caps post on social media. “Put them all over the place. RNC, every Republican, get to work on this now!!!”

There are ballot drop boxes in at least some jurisdictions in 33 states and Washington, D.C., according to a roundup by the National Conference of State Legislatures .

'Wait for a debacle?': Legislature approves restrictions despite successful 2020 election

Florida adopted the package of election changes despite widespread praise for the conduct of the 2020 election.

“The way Florida did it I think inspires confidence,” DeSantis said in November 2020 . “I think that’s how elections should be run.”

Studies found drop boxes were secure in 2020. The Associated Press found no problems . The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said drop boxes provide a secure and convenient way to vote.

Maria Matthews, director of the Florida division of elections, estimated her agency forwarded “upwards of 75” complaints of election fraud to law enforcement during the 2020 election cycle out of nearly 11 million ballots cast , a rate of 0.000007% .

But Florida's Republican-led legislature adopted the package of election measures nonetheless.

Republican state Sen. Dennis Baxley, the lead sponsor of the election overhaul, said although he did not “know of widespread complaints,” he wanted to “make Florida a place where it is easy to vote and hard to cheat.”

“Do we have to wait for a debacle?" Baxley asked during the legislative debate. "Why can’t we take something that’s working well and put guardrails on it and keep it safe so it doesn’t have a debacle?”

Federal courts uphold law despite judge's concern it targets Black voters with 'surgical precision'

Federal courts upheld Florida's law despite complaints from voters who sought to drop off ballots after working hours or on weekends.

Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker ruled after a two-week trial in February 2022 that restrictions in the law regulating drop boxes, requiring voters to request mail-in ballots more often and other requirements hurt Black voters and violated the Constitution.

Walker found it was harder for Black voters to get to a polling station because they are overrepresented in the service sector, with typically less flexible hours and less access to transportation.

"Across counties and across elections, Black voters use drop boxes more than White voters," Walker wrote. “More importantly, Black voters tend to use drop boxes in just the way that (the law) targets.”

But the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned his decision , ruling there wasn’t enough difference between how Black and white voters cast ballots to justify blocking the law.

“The finding that black voters are more likely to use drop boxes outside of early voting hours rests on ... flimsy evidence,” Chief Judge William Pryor wrote.

The dispute between the courts boiled down to how they judged statistics for voting through drop boxes. Walker cited expert testimony about Columbia, Santa Rosa and Sarasota counties that found Black voters 48% more likely than white voters to use drop boxes in the presidential primary. But the appeals court cited small racial differences among voters dropping off ballots after business hours, as restricted in the law. In Columbia County, 52.4% of Black voters and 50.2% of white voters deposited ballots in drop boxes after business hours. In Manatee County, the rates were 13.5% for Black voters and 11.4% for white voters.

Drop boxes gained spotlight recently

Dealing with drop boxes is a relatively recent phenomenon in Florida. In 1980, most voters cast ballots in person with six exceptions for people who were incapacitated or absent on Election Day. By 2001, the state allowed absentee voting without an excuse. But the 2020 election was the first with drop boxes for absentee ballots in every county.

The COVID-19 pandemic spurred the popularity of absentee ballots, with Democrats using them more than Republicans. From 2014 to 2020, the rate of Florida Republicans using absentee ballots grew from 40% to 42%, while the portion for Democrats went from 35.5% to 61%.

Trump complained repeatedly during the 2020 campaign without evidence that absentee voting was insecure and would lead to fraud and a "RIGGED election." The Justice Department during his administration and state Republican election officials investigated and found no widespread fraud.

Andrew Garber, a lawyer at the Brennan Center’s Voting Rights and Elections Program, said limiting drop boxes to election office hours could hurt voters with transportation concerns, older voters and those with disabilities.

“Those changes are definitely major concerns because drop boxes are an important tool for lots of voters," Garber said. “That can be really hard for voters who work jobs that they can’t take time off for, who are paid hourly."

How did county election offices adapt to the law?

Most Florida counties expect to have the same number of drop-off locations in 2024 as they did for the last presidential election, according to a USA TODAY survey with responses from 48 of the state's 67 election offices.

Some counties have given up the boxes outside their early voting locations.

"It's an inconvenience, but we simply explain the legislature is responsible for the change," said Alan Hays, supervisor of elections in Lake County, which got rid of its outdoor box at the main election office.

“Voters do miss the (outdoor) box,” said Amanda Seyfang, supervisor of elections in Bradford County. “It was more convenient that it was available 24-7. The law no longer allows that.”

However, other counties expanded their locations, often due to population growth.

Duval County had the biggest expansion among the respondents, from 19 drop-off locations in 2020 to 24 this year. “I am a proponent of expanding voter options,” said Jerry Holland, supervisor of elections.

Collier County expanded from 10 drop-off locations in 2020 to 13 this year, as the county opened a new election office and two early voting sites.

“We have had requests or for more ‘drop boxes,’ mostly from assisted living facilities or gated communities,” said Trish Robertson, a spokesperson for the election supervisor. However, state law does not allow drop boxes in those locations.

What are the complaints about the changes for drop boxes?

Voters and groups that opposed the law argued it would hurt workers who can't leave their jobs during the business day and people who have farther to drive to election offices rather than stand-alone drop boxes.

"The bias against Black and brown workers still exists in the workplace," said Scoon, a practicing civil rights lawyer. "They don't live near the supervisor of election offices. They don't have the time. They don't have the resources."

Brigham, the ailing retiree, prefers dropping off his ballot to avoid long lines or uncertainty about whether a clean restroom would be available. In 2020, Orange County offered a drive-through location under a tent, across the street from the election office. Two election workers took his ballot while he sat in his car.

He was eager to deliver his absentee ballot in person because of problems he's noticed with the U.S. Postal Service. He's twice had mail delivered to a house two streets away from his but with the same number. On another two occasions, he mailed property-tax payments that "got lost in the mail."

"I never heard what happened, but I was late," said Brigham. And in an election, being late could mean not being counted.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Amid new ballot drop boxes limits, Florida's shorter hours cause voting rights worry