Republican-backed law limits absentee voting in Florida

Voting rights advocates have filed legal challenges to the law, which they say will make voting more difficult.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has 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 the United States since the 2020 presidential election. The new law restricts the use of absentee ballot drop boxes to the early voting period, adds new identification requirements for requesting such ballots and requires voters to reapply for absentee ballots in each new general election cycle. Previously, Florida voters only had to register for an absentee ballot once every two election cycles. The law also gives partisan election observers more power to raise objections and requires people offering voters assistance to stay at least 45 metres (150 feet) away from polling places, an increase from the previous 30-metre (100 feet) radius.