Florida passes restrictive voting law, retired Americans push back

America’s senior citizens face many hardships due to physical shortcomings. While some things like standing in line to vote are okay for the younger population, older Americans may struggle.

Alliance for Retired Americans Executive Director Rich Fiesta discussed the issues with the voting laws being passed by some states, what the alliance is doing to combat these laws and how the federal government is attempting to circumvent these laws.

New voting law targets older Americans

After Florida passed their new voting law following the 2020 election, the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans sued the state. Fiesta said this action will take place in other states where restrictive laws were passed.

According to Fiesta, the law makes voting more difficult for older Americans. The provisions of the law include the removal of ballot drop boxes, reducing absentee and mail in voting abilities and more.

Although Republicans are passing these laws in the name of election integrity, they are a reaction to losing the presidential election. Fiesta said these restrictive laws could harm Republicans prospects, as many seniors vote for Republican candidates.

Federal voting legislation

Fiesta applauded House and Senate Democrats for their efforts at the federal level to circumvent these state laws. While any legislation will be obstructed to the fullest extent, it is positive to hear the issue being discussed at the federal level.

He then explained what the currently proposed federal legislation would do. The proposed law would fix heavily gerrymandered districts, expand early and absentee voting, allow for more drop boxes, move much of the registration process online and more.