Florida legislature passes elections bill that contains restrictions on voting, following a GOP trend

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Florida) fist bumps with legislators as he enters the chamber of the Florida House of Representatives prior to his State of the State address in Tallahassee on March 1, 2021.

AP Photo/Phil Sears, File

• The Florida legislature passed a broad elections bill that contains voting restrictions.
• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the bill in the battleground state.
• The makeup of the bill resembles aspects of Georgia's recently passed voting law.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

Florida's legislature passed a sweeping and restrictive voting reform bill late on Thursday, sending the legislation to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his signature.

DeSantis is expected to sign the bill in the battleground state, and the makeup of the bill resembles aspects of Georgia's recently passed voting law.

The new bill limits the use of ballot drop boxes, requires separate absentee ballot requests for each election, and enforces stricter, more partisan rules for who can collect drop-off ballots and who can observe ballot counting.

The bill also broadly prohibits individuals and groups from providing items with "intent to influence," to voters within 150 feet of a polling location. Those items include food and water.

The package made it through both legislative chambers with near-unanimous GOP support, passing 77-40 in the Florida House of Representatives and 23-17 in the Florida Senate.

GOP state Sen. Jeff Brandes voted against it.

The proponents of the legislation cited debunked claims of election fraud during the 2020 election to justify the need for the reforms, as Republican-led state legislatures in Texas and Arizona eye similar bills.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.

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