[NFBF-L] Legislative Alert!!!: Florida Senate Bill 396 Elections

[president at nfbflorida.org]

Greetings Federationists: 

 

This is our second email with a state legislative alert. We received
information from Marilyn Baldwin about a bill that was introduced in the
Florida Senate amending Election Law. Thank you for sharing this bill with
us. The bill is long and I will not attach it to this email, but we are most
interested in lines 1196-1198, Vote By Mail. This bill intends to require
all Vote By Mail requesters to show proof from a medical professional they
are unable to physically go to a polling precinct to cast their ballot. 

 

The National Federation of the Blind has fought for years to ensure blind
Americans have equal access to cast their vote securely, , privately and
independently. This bill would undo this for many of us who choose to use a
mail-in ballot. Under current Vote By Mail election rules, the state must
guarantee we can cast a secure, verifiable, private and independent ballot
without the assistance of a third party. There are different variables that
come into play when discussing voting rights and disability. We are asking
our members to contact their state legislature members to oppose this bill
and request it be pulled. 

 

Florida Senator Ileana Garcia-R, District 36 introduced this bill. At this
time, there are no supporting co-sponsors and no House bill has been
introduced. There is a template you may use when contacting your legislators
at the end of this email, above my signature. If you do not know who your
House and Senate members are in the state legislature, please visit
FLHouse.gov and FLSenate.gov to find them. You may use the contact form on
the website as we think it is accessible at this time. You may also call
your legislators offices if you are more comfortable with that method.
Chapters are encouraged to seek appointments when available to speak with
their legislators as a group. 

I have attached a resolution passed at our 2021 National Convention
regarding suppression of voting rights for the disabled with certain
documentation requirements. 

SB396 Template 

 

Dear [insert legislator name]: 

 

My name is [insert name]. I live in [insert city and state] and am your
constituent. I am a member of the National Federation of the Blind of
Florida. We are an affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind, the
nation's oldest and largest transformative civil rights organization of
blind people. 

 

I am contacting you because of legislation recently introduced for the 2025
Legislative Session in Florida. Senate Bill 396 is seeking to amend voting
rights in Florida that will infringe upon my privacy and right to cast a
secret, verifiable, private and independent ballot. Voting is both a right
and a privilege and is the cornerstone of American citizenship. Under the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Help America Vote Act of 2001,
disabled voters have certain guaranteed rights to cast our ballot with equal
access as non-disabled voters. Senate Bill 396 will jeopardize these rights.

 

Contained within Senate Bill 396 is an amendment under Vote By Mail that
would require me, if I choose to use Vote By Mail, to submit medical proof
that I am unable to physically go to a polling precinct to cast my ballot.
This will create a barrier to exercise my right to vote privately and
independently. Additionally, placing such a requirement to exercise my right
to vote infringes on my privacy, requiring me to share private and personal
medical information to someone who is not my medical professional(s) or
designated by me to have such a privilege.

 

I strongly urge the legislature to remove any barriers for disabled people
to be able to vote on an equal basis with all other voters. We should not
have to sacrifice our medical privacy and HIPPA rights before we can cast a
private and independent vote using Vote By Mail. I have enclosed with this
letter a resolution passed by the National Federation of the Blind in July
2021, indicating our organization's position on certain documentation
requirements that suppress a disabled voter's right to vote privately and
independently. 

 

Sincerely, 

[insert name] 

[insert any NFB titles you hold]

 

 

 

 Camille Tate, president

National Federation of the Blind of Florida 

Board of Directors 

 <http://www.nfbflorida.org/> www.nfbflorida.org

Tel: 321.372.4899

 

With love, hope and determination, we transform dreams into reality.

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbf-l_nfbnet.org/attachments/20250226/4392efee/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Resolution 2021-02 Suppressing the Right for Disabled Voting-NFB.docx
Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
Size: 15450 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbf-l_nfbnet.org/attachments/20250226/4392efee/attachment.docx>