The Freedom to Vote Act (FTVA) would expand access to the ballot box for millions of Americans and ensure that all citizens can easily exercise their right to vote, regardless of their ZIP code. At the same time, this transformational federal voting rights legislation would strengthen election security, improve election administration and campaign finance transparency, and ban partisan gerrymandering.
The FTVA would make voting easier and more secure for 15.5 million voting-age Florida citizens, including 9.8 million currently registered voters. A new report from the Center for American Progress provides analysis and statistical extrapolations to illustrate how the 2024 and subsequent election cycles would be transformed if the FTVA’s key voting policies had been enacted in 2022, when the legislation was blocked through the use of the filibuster on the U.S. Senate floor.1
Read the full report
Analysis and projections for Florida, based on previous academic and expert research as well as original research, demonstrate the transformative impact the FTVA could have for voters in the state.
Unless otherwise cited, the author conducted original analysis and created projections primarily based on data published by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission for past federal election cycles. For a comprehensive look at the data analyzed for this fact sheet, see here.
To put some of the below findings into perspective, the 2020 Florida presidential election was decided by 372,000 voters, the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election was decided by 32,000 voters, and the 2018 Florida U.S. Senate election was decided by only 10,000 voters.2
372,000
voters decided the 2020 Florida presidential election
32,000
voters decided the 2018 Florida gubernatorial elections
10,000
voters decided the 2018 Florida U.S. Senate election
818,000
additional Florida voters would likely vote in the 2024 presidential election
Take Action: Pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act
Automatic voter registration
The FTVA would ensure eligible Florida citizens can automatically register to vote through the department of motor vehicles.3 Automatic voter registration (AVR) has been shown to be critical not only for registering voters and keeping voter rolls up to date but also for closing racial gaps in voter registration rates. Given the measured impacts that AVR has had in other states:
- Approximately 1.7 million Floridians likely would have newly registered to vote through AVR, including approximately 172,000 Hispanic Floridians and 231,000 Black Floridians.
- Approximately 1.7 million already registered Florida voters likely would have updated their voter registration information using AVR ahead of the 2024 general election.
- Nearly 818,000 additional Florida voters would likely cast a ballot in the 2024 general election, including approximately 83,000 Hispanic voters and 112,000 Black voters.
Same-day voter registration
The FTVA would ensure eligible Florida citizens can register to vote at the polls on Election Day and during an early voting period.4 Same-day voter registration (SDR) greatly benefits communities that tend to move more frequently and therefore need to update their voter registration information more often; Hispanic Americans and young Americans are among the demographic populations that move around the most frequently.5 Additionally, SDR helps mitigate issues with inaccurate voter roll purges that often disproportionately affect voters of color.6 The SDR policy in the FTVA would ensure that voters inaccurately removed from the voter rolls are able not only to re-register at the polls but also to cast a nonprovisional ballot.
Across the past three federal election cycles, Hispanic voters in states with SDR had an average voter turnout rate that was 6.6 percentage points higher than that of Hispanic voters in states without SDR; during the last presidential election, it was 4.5 percentage points higher. Additionally, academic experts have found that SDR increases youth voter turnout by between 3.1 percentage points and 7.3 percentage points.7 Given these findings:
- Approximately 217,000 additional Hispanic Floridians would likely cast a ballot if voter turnout for Hispanic Floridians was at the same rate as for Hispanic voters in states with SDR for the presidential general election.
- As many as 102,000 more young Floridians—those ages 18 to 24—would likely cast a ballot in the 2024 general election.
Re-enfranchisement
The FTVA would restore the right to vote for returning citizens who have served time for felony sentences. Black Americans are incarcerated at five times the rate of white Americans, while Hispanic/Latino Americans are incarcerated at nearly two-and-a-half times the rate of white Americans.8
- Approximately 1.4 million Floridians could have regained their right to vote and become eligible to cast a ballot for the 2024 general election, including approximately 251,000 Black Floridians and 96,000 Hispanic/Latino Floridians.9
Early in-person voting
The FTVA would ensure all Americans have access to at least two weeks of early in-person voting (EIPV), including on weekends. Florida is among 10 states that will not offer a minimum of two weeks of EIPV for the 2024 general election.
During the previous two general elections, states with at least two weeks of EIPV had a voter turnout rate that was, on average, 3 percentage points higher than states without a minimum two weeks of EIPV.
- 337,000 more Floridians would likely turn out to cast a ballot in the 2024 general election if the state’s voter turnout increased by 3 percentage points, mirroring higher voter turnout rates in states with at least two weeks of EIPV.