Florida enacts limits on absentee voting

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed a law curtailing access to absentee ballots and adding new hurdles to the process of submitting them, the latest Republican-backed voting restrictions to become law in a U.S. election battleground state.

This report produced by Freddie Joyner.

Florida on Thursday became the latest state to enact Republican-led voting restrictions in the wake of the 2020 election.

Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a measure making it harder to obtain and submit absentee ballots.

Voting rights are front and center after Democratic voters took advantage of early and absentee voting to propel Joe Biden to victory, including in traditional Republican strongholds such as Georgia and Arizona.

Republican Donald Trump and many in his party responded by spreading baseless allegations of voter fraud and claiming without evidence that the election was stolen.

In Georgia, Republicans passed a new law limiting absentee and early voting, provoking a backlash from Democratic activists, voting-rights groups, and even large corporations.

Critics say these laws are tailored to limit ballot access by Democratic leaning voting blocs, particularly by people of color.

Minutes after DeSantis signed the law, the League of Women Voters of Florida and two other civil rights groups sued Florida's 67 counties to try to block the new restrictions.