Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) issued a statement Thursday in which he outlined his proposal for reforms to the state’s election laws, which included an expansion of the early voting period.
On Tuesday, Scott disavowed his role in the law that reduced the number of early voting days from 14 to eight, which resulted in long lines and chaotic scenes at a number of polling places in the days leading up to Election Day in 2012. In the statement Thursday, Scott said the state needs “more early voting days” but qualified his support by saying he supports allowing election supervisors the “flexibility to offer anywhere between eight and 14 days of early voting.”
Scott’s statement included a full list of reforms, including proposals for shorter ballots and more early voting locations, that came out of a briefing he had with Florida’s Secretary of State Ken Detzner.
From the statement:
“In short, these reforms need to address the three major areas I have previously outlined. We need shorter ballots. We need more early voting days, which should include an option of the Sunday before Election Day. And, we need more early voting locations. From my briefing with Sec. Detzner today, I believe all these reforms are strongly supported by the input and experiences of local election supervisors and others that the department met with for ideas on improving our current system – a system clearly in need of improvement.”
Read the entire statement here.
