Rep Laurel Lee says the Florida-tested model will restore voter confidence.
By Catholics for Catholics
The country’s fracas over the voting ability of Americans has reached Washington—two supporters of President Donald Trump unveiled a new proposal that they say will help bring back trust in the U.S. election process.
Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., plans to introduce legislation directing that absentee and mail-in ballots are received by the pertinent officials by the end of the day on Election Day. A consistent bill is being led in the Senate by Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla, according to a story by Fox News.
“This is something that we’ve done in Florida for many years, and it’s a really effective way of making sure that elections stay organized and that we have timely election results,” Lee told Fox News Digital.
According to Fox News, Lee is Florida’s former top elections official, having served as its secretary of state from 2019 until May 2022.
“Florida is proof-positive that this works, that it does not deny any voter the right to vote. Our job as elected officials or as elections officials throughout the states is just to make sure that voters know the deadlines, that they know the rules and tell them your ballot has to be received,” Lee said. “They can do that just as easy as they can get it postmarked by Election Day.”
Still, Lee contended her bill does not curb people’s ability to vote by mail.
“One thing that’s important to understand about this bill is that it doesn’t limit voting by mail. It simply says that for states who allow mail voting, ballots must be received by Election Day,” she said. “So it still keeps all of those options that states have chosen to implement on the table for them. It just creates a different deadline.”
The initiative follows an executive order Trump issued in March 2025 essentially setting an Election Day deadline for when mail-in ballots can be received.
If passed, the legislation could have a significant impact on millions of Americans, nearly a third of whom vote by mail.
