Florida supervisors urge DeSantis to ‘act immediately’ to accept federal election funds

This story has been updated to reflect new information.

Florida is one of just four states that have yet to accept federal funds to prepare for elections during the coronavirus pandemic, and the state’s election supervisors are urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to take the money now.

The Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections, a bipartisan group that represents county-level election supervisors across the state, sent a letter to DeSantis on Wednesday urging him to take $20 million in funds awarded to Florida as part of the $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill that became law in March. The letter is a follow-up to one the group sent a month ago, asking DeSantis to help supervisors prepare for the coming August and November elections by granting them some flexibility under the law — a request that has gone unanswered.

“I ... want to express my concern that Florida is lagging behind nearly every other state in securing CARES Act funding for elections,” Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer wrote Wednesday. “While we wait, the goods and services we need are becoming scarce.”

Late Wednesday, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Laurel Lee said the state intends to apply for the funds.

“We will be assisting our 67 county supervisors of elections to make these funds available in the most expeditious manner possible and to maximize the full benefit of these funds to meet identified areas of specific county and collective critical need and support consistent with the intent and purpose of the CARES Act,” Florida Department of State spokesperson Mark Ard said.

Ard said the Department of State is “in the process of formalizing our request” and that it is working with the governor’s office and Legislature to secure $4 million in matching funds that are required to access the federal money.

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the federal agency responsible for administering the funds, said earlier Wednesday that the responsibility to make the request lies with the Republican-controlled state Legislature, not the governor. The Florida Legislature finished its session in March, before the $2 trillion federal coronavirus relief bill became law, and has not been back in session since.

“Florida can’t request disbursement until their state Legislature takes required action,” U.S. Election Assistance Commission communications director Kristen Muthig said in an email.

But state Sen. Gary Farmer, D-Fort Lauderdale, and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, both said they believe the governor can request the money himself.

“He should check with his budget folks because there is a budget commission that exists to deal with things like this that come up ... between legislative sessions,” Wasserman Schultz said. “I don’t believe there is a necessity for the Legislature to weigh in.”

Latimer, the newly named president of the association, said in an interview that he sent the new letter on Wednesday because supervisors soon will run out of time to prepare. Ballots for the Aug. 18 primary are only weeks from being set and ordered to the printers.

Supervisors also are hoping DeSantis will allow them to establish Election Day voting centers in case they have trouble staffing neighborhood polling places or finding the landlords who will allow hundreds of strangers onto their property to cast ballots.

“In my county, 346 poll workers didn’t show up [on the day of the March 17 primary]. We’re concerned with how many poll workers we’re going to need and how many are going to be available,” Latimer said. “The larger thing is polling places. A lot of our polling places are closed. We’re not able to get in contact with them. They’re not responding to us. I’m not by myself. This is every county.”

Florida’s March 17 presidential preference primary was held on schedule. In-person voter turnout on Election Day was down significantly compared to the 2016 presidential primary, though vote-by-mail totals surged in the competitive Democratic primary. Democrats are now pushing to increase vote-by-mail participation in the upcoming primary and general elections.

“The bottom line is 67 election experts in this state recommended to the governor what needs to be done,” Latimer said, referring to Florida’s 67 county-level election supervisors. “It would be helpful to get a response.”

Latimer said many supervisors are planning on using the CARES money to pay for return postage for mail ballots — which are expected to spike this year. Ballots without postage affixed are delivered by the U.S. Postal Service, but local election jurisdictions are billed for it.

Most other states sent in formal requests for the federal money in April. Under the CARES Act, states must provide 20% in matching money, so, including that, the total amount for Florida would be $24 million.

The money would allow Florida to address challenges of administering the August primary election and November general election during the pandemic. For example, counties could use the money to pay for personal protective equipment for poll workers, expanded early voting dates and sites to encourage social distancing at the polls, and more employees to process the expected increase in vote-by-mail ballots.

The supervisors are also asking DeSantis to expand a 2019 executive order that gave election supervisors in two Florida Panhandle counties hit hard by Hurricane Michael in 2018 the ability to designate additional early voting sites through Election Day 2020.

“We are confident we can overcome the challenges of the current health crisis with executive action that gives us more flexibility around in-person voting and vote by mail, and secures much-needed CARES Act funding to protect our voters,” Latimer wrote. “Our requests recognize that counties differ significantly in size and need, and require flexibility to structure voting in the best possible way for their electorate.”

Two of the four states that have not yet applied for funds, Florida and Texas, have legislatures that are not currently in session. Oklahoma, the third state yet to apply, has had its legislature in session since April. And Hawaii reconvened its legislature due to the pandemic on Monday.

Matthew Weil, the director of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Election Project, said he was initially concerned the federal government’s requirement that states add 20% in matching funds would discourage some from taking the money, especially during a pandemic that is wreaking havoc on budgets. But he said the funding was relatively flexible, allowing some states to cover costs from primaries held throughout March while the pandemic was beginning and others to prepare for the upcoming election by increasing vote-by-mail capacity or buying personal protective equipment for election workers.

“Even though the match was a burden, they were able to meet it,” Weil said.

Weil also said Florida quickly distributed federal funds to county-level election supervisors in 2018 and 2019, making the delay in 2020 seem like more of an anomaly.

Florida’s decision not to apply for federal funds immediately has drawn criticism from Democrats across the state.

“We must do everything we can to ensure that voters can exercise these fundamental rights in our upcoming elections, and that is why we included $400 million for that in the CARES Act,” Miami Democratic Rep. Donna Shalala said in a statement. “I urge Governor DeSantis to request the CARES Act funding as soon as possible, as Florida is one of just a few states that have not yet requested funding. These funds are a vital resource in a time when state and local governments across the U.S. are feeling the strain of a pandemic that has disrupted normal life unlike any other crisis in living memory.”

This story was originally published May 13, 2020 at 5:03 PM.