Sen. Scott wants all ballots counted within 24 hours of polls closing

ORLANDO, Fla. - U.S. Senator Rick Scott wants the election laws to change before November 3.

The former Florida governor proposes the “VOTER Act,” which he says will prevent fraud and produce timely results.

The new measure calls for mail-in ballots to be requested at least 21 days before the election, mail-in ballots must be received by the time the polls close and all ballots must be counted within 24 hours of the polls closing.

Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Lisa Lewis says voting by mail has roughly tripled this year and the ballots are already coming back in.

“Earlier the better,” said Lewis. “Once we receive it then we have a room that we verify all the signatures one by one.”

She says the county is able to count those votes ahead of election day when the canvassing board meets.

However, election offices across Florida are bracing for a surge in returns come early November.

“If it’s toward the deadline… then you have some push back to try and get all those in by the deadline,” Lewis said when asked about the 24-hour deadline proposed by Scott.

Scott’s bill would also make it so that no ballot could be counted before the polls open, which could leave election offices with a massive workload and less time.

Democrats are blasting the bill.

“My suspicion is that this is another distraction weeks before the election to try to create fear and give off the impression that your vote won’t count,” said Florida State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando.

FOX 35 News reached out to Senator Scott for an interview but he was unavailable.