Florida Advisory Committee Announces Study on Voting Rights and Calls for Public Comment

The Florida Advisory Committee (Committee) to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (Commission) will conduct a study of voting rights in Florida in order to submit a series of reports to the Commission to share with appropriate federal, state, and local entities. As part of this study, the Committee invites Florida voters, election officials, community advocates, voting rights groups, scholars, and other experts to share their experiences with voting rights in the state.

Committee Chair Nadine Smith said, “Our Committee studied voting rights and voter disenfranchisement and issued several specific recommendations in our October 2020 report to the Commission. We turn back to this topic now given recent changes to Florida’s election laws and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to learn what has been done since we issued our report, and what still needs to occur to ensure every Floridian is able to cast their vote.”

The Committee’s focus for their first report to the Commission in this series will concern recent legislative changes to Florida’s election laws, as well as the extent of the state’s implementation of the Committee’s previous recommendations concerning vote-by-mail and early voting from their October 2020 report. The Committee seeks remarks from:

• Researchers and Academics (Overview, Data, Background)
• Advocates and Community Members (Identifying Civil Rights Concerns)
• Policy & Government Officials (Response to Civil Rights Concerns)

It is anticipated that future reports in this series will focus on potential Equal Protection concerns arising from disparities in election-related policies and voting opportunities among different counties, as well as Florida’s readiness to implement and enforce voting rights when widespread major emergencies such as natural disasters, earthquakes, or unexpected calamities arise. The first web briefings related to this topic will be held this spring and will include time for public comment. Dates and times for these web briefings are to be announced. You can stay abreast of updates at USCCR.gov or at the Federal Register.
The Committee will also accept written comments related to this study. Please send written statements to Liliana Schiller, at lschiller@usccr.gov by May 1, 2022. Meeting materials and presentations will be available at Florida Advisory Committee Public Folder.