Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of several Republican governors pushing new restrictions on mail-in ballots across the country, once had his own mail-in ballot tossed by election officials after his signature was flagged as not matching a previous signature on file.
NBC 6 South Florida reported Monday that DeSantis’s 2016 primary vote was flagged by Flagler County election officials after they determined the signature on the form bore “no similarities” to the ones they had on file. Neither did a backup signature provided by the governor.
As a result, DeSantis’s primary mail-in ballot, which was one of six out of seven times he used a no-excuse absentee ballot to vote between 2016 and 2020, was thrown out by election officials. It wasn’t immediately clear if the governor submitted another ballot after his vote was rejected.
The Hill has reached out to the Florida governor’s office for comment.
DeSantis has backed attempts by Florida Republicans to further restrict voting following the 2020 election, similar to moves taken by a number of other Republican-led states including neighboring Georgia. Florida’s GOP proposal includes measures such as reducing the number of mail-in ballot drop boxes and changing the process by which voters obtain mail-in ballots.
Democrats and elections experts have roundly criticized the GOP push, which they say is based on former President Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud, and have accused Republicans of targeting minority voters who more often back Democratic candidates.
“These voter suppression tactics highly impact black voters,” Moné Holder, senior director of advocacy and programs at Florida Rising, told The Hill last fall.
–Updated on April 14 at 8:06 a.m.