Fighting Cynicism in the Wake of Hurricane Ian

The devastation caused by Hurricane Ian to the state of Florida is unprecedented. We’ve seen hurricanes before, but none has cut such a devastating swath through our state before.

And with so many of our fellow citizens displaced and dealing with unspeakable loss, it behooves us to put politics aside and be fully supportive of any effort to help the more than 1 million voters slammed by Ian by providing them with more options to cast ballots in the November general election.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an emergency order with a litany of relief efforts that includes allowing supervisors of elections in Charlotte, Lee and Sarasota counties to relocate and consolidate polling places and designate new locations for vote-by-mail drop boxes – which the state now calls secure ballot intake stations.

In addition, voters registered in the three counties were allowed to phone in requests for vote-by-mail ballots to be sent to locations that are not the addresses listed in a state voter-registration system for them.

The governor’s order even took steps to make sure enough poll workers will be available, including encouraging state employees to work at the polls in the three counties.

It’s worth noting that the state made similar changes for eight counties in 2018 after Hurricane Michael caused massive damage in northwest Florida a month before the general election.

While I struggle to be pure at heart, it’s hard to forget that northwest and southwest Florida are heavily Republican. Some areas in the middle of the state also suffered from extensive flooding caused by Hurricane Ian, but the governor’s order was no help to them.

“Voters in any storm-affected county in Florida, not just the three where local elections officials asked for help, deserve extended time and resources to adequately cast their ballots,” said Brad Ashwell, state director for All Voting is Local Florida in a written statement. “The state must consider the needs of voters across the state, not just the needs of supervisors of elections in a few counties.”

Going even deeper, the Florida Legislature passed a voter suppression bill in May, S.B. 90, which was modeled after the worst provisions from Georgia’s omnibus voter suppression law, Senate Bill 202. The law signed by DeSantis bans anyone except poll workers from distributing food and water to voters waiting in line, cuts the period over which absentee ballot requests will be honored and shortens the time in which ballot drop boxes may be used.

Voting rights advocates have been fighting it tooth and nail in court.

S.B. 90 also placed new limits on where drop boxes could be placed, added restrictions on who can drop off a voter's ballot, mandated that drop boxes be staffed while open and added new powers for partisan poll watchers as well as a requirement that voters must request to vote-by-mail more frequently. All of this is to create obstacles that make voting harder – especially for minorities, immigrants, the poor, the elderly and the infirm.

So, we are left to wonder, if a category 4 storm were to hit Miami, Broward or Palm Beach county, would DeSantis break his neck to make voting easier for us?

Emily Cardenas is the executive editor of the Biscayne Times. She previously worked as a producer at WTXF in Philadelphia and at WSCV, WFOR and WPLG in Miami.