Floridians will vote in the state’s primary election on Tuesday under new voting restrictions that a judge previously ruled were “to target Black voters,” the first such federal election under the new law.

According to voting rights groups, the new restrictions make it more difficult to seek and return absentee ballots, register voters, and dispute votes once cast. However, advocates argue that the new measures are necessary to combat voting fraud.

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The primary will not only serve as a preview of the presidential elections in 2024, but it will also put to the test notions about who should be able to vote and how readily they should be able to vote in what has become one of the most electorally important states in the country.

In fact, by 2024, Florida may have even more restrictions. Its new election regulations mandate the formation of a committee to investigate rules similar to those used in Texas, which resulted in a rise in rejected ballots during that state’s primary earlier this year.

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Under new restrictions, Texas tossed out more than 12% of mailed ballots during its 2022 primary, up from less than 2% in 2018.

“A lot of people have questions about this new law,” Amy Keith, programme director for the good governance organisation Common Cause Florida, said.

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Florida is among the states that have enacted new election restrictions in response to allegations of election fraud in the 2020 election, which witnessed high amounts of voting by mail due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Trump won Florida, but Republicans in the state legislature passed an election law in 2021.

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In a March judgement, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Walker stated that the rule was intended “to target Black voters because of their propensity to favor Democratic candidates.” However, an appeals court ruled that the statute should be upheld for the Aug. 23 primary while it is being challenged in court.

Furthermore, Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature authorised another round of election law reforms in 2022. State Republicans celebrated the reforms as a triumph for “election integrity,” and Gov. Ron DeSantis declared Florida a “national leader” in election security.

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Voting rights groups, on the other hand, are concerned that the new laws will make voting more difficult. The League of Women Voters and other organisations sued the state to prevent the implementation of Senate Bill 90, which was passed in 2021.

Voters with disabilities: New election laws may make it difficult for voters with disabilities to vote.

For the first time, voters requesting a mail ballot must supply their Florida driver’s licence or identification card number, as well as the last four digits of their Social Security number. It also forces voters to apply for mail-in ballots more frequently.

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However, about 600,000 of Florida’s 14.3 million voter registrations lack those numbers for local election officials to cross-reference since voters used other forms of identification to prove their identity, according to Dan Smith, a political science professor at the University of Florida who testified for the groups challenging the law.

“For voters who have been on the rolls for a long time, they may well not have given that information,” According to Leon County Elections Supervisor Mark Earley, several of Florida’s election supervisors contacted voters who did not have the numbers on file to obtain the information.

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Once those voters have received their votes, the new legislation restricts who can return a ballot on their behalf to immediate family members, and an individual can only return up to two ballots that aren’t their own.

Restrictions on voting:

During the pandemic, drop boxes were an important tool for elections. Why do some states restrict them?

Senate Bill 90 also mandates employees to monitor drop boxes, which were eventually rebranded as “secure ballot intake stations” in Florida.

Election supervisors who violate the state’s drop box laws may be fined $25,000 for each violation.

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“All of these changes add up to constrict (voting),” stated Cecile Scoon, president of the Florida League of Women Voters.

In April, Florida passed Senate Bill 524, which requires annual voter roll purges, enhances penalties for election crimes, and establishes an “Office of Election Crimes and Security” to examine allegations of alleged voter fraud.

Scoon is concerned that the group will function as election police, scaring Black voters away from voting.

“The history is too raw, and it’s too real,” she was speaking about the South’s history of preventing Black voters from voting.

On August 8, a voter casts his ballot at Miami’s Stephen P. Clark Government Center. Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties have begun early voting for the Aug. 23 primary election.