SOUTHWEST, Fla — Senator Rick Scott introduced a new "Voter Act" to prevent election fraud.
If this passes, the new act will implement some recent changes to preexisting election laws.
Including this one: Mail-in ballots must be requested at least 21 days before a federal election and requires all eligible votes to be counted and reported within 24 hours after polls close on election day.
Trish Robertson with the Collier County Elections Office says these two changes will look very different.
Currently, what we have in place now is you must make that request at least ten days, so that's something that could be a little bit of a different look for us if this were to pass," Robertson says.
"We would have to do a little bit more outreach to meet that change in the deadline."
She also says polls close at 7 pm people waiting to vote and are eligible to vote.
"I'm not sure if that deadline would be realistic, and plus, we have to motor in the results from the location for in-person voting," Robertson says.
Tommy Doyle, with the Lee County Elections Office, says these proposed changes would not only affect the staff but voters as well.
"It's going to affect the voters who failed to request that, when in the election code on the website you know were advertising ten days," Doyle says.
"We change that in the middle of this election that's a problem.
He also says in the general election, you have provisionals that won't be tabulated and approved until 2 days after the election.
"Then you have military who are allowed to received their ballot ten days after their postmark, so those have to be counted if they come in 10 days later," Doyle says.
He also says Florida begins tabulating their ballots three weeks before the election.
And with over 240,000 mail-in ballot requests alone today in Lee County, he hopes current laws will stay in place before November 3rd.
Now at this time, Senator Scott's proposal has not been passed, and if you're looking to request a mail-in ballot, you have until October 3rd.
