Gov. Rick Scott’s chief elections official issued an order Monday that imposes new restrictions on how and where voters can return completed absentee ballots in future elections. (See the directive here.)
At least two county election supervisors, Brian Corley in Pasco County and Deborah Clark in Pinellas, are troubled by the decision, say they were never consulted by the state and predicted that it could depress turnout. Pinellas is also the county where voters will soon elect a new member of Congress to replace the late C.W. Bill Young.
The two-page order, officially called a “directive,” was issued by Secretary of State Ken Detzner. But election supervisors are elected constitutional officers, so it is unclear whether they would be legally obligated to obey it. Detzner has the authority to sue a supervisor who he believes is not following the election code.
In it, Detzner said his office “has been asked for clarification” on the return of absentees, but he didn’t say by whom. He wrote: “Supervisors should not solicit return of absentee ballots at any place other than a supervisor’s office, except for the purpose of having the absentee ballot cancelled if the voter wants to vote in person.” Detzner noted that another part of the elections code instructs voters to mail absentee ballots to supervisors’ offices.
Detzner’s directive prohibits Clark from opening ballot drop-off locations for the convenience of voters. Clark is a strong proponent of letting voters vote by mail and she had 14 drop-off sites in the 2012 presidential election, including local tax collectors’ offices and public libraries.
Clark said other large counties also use absentee ballot drop-off sites, and she said the effect of Detzner’s order is to inconvenience voters by making them drive longer distances to return their ballots. Her three offices are in St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Largo.
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