Florida Voter Guide

Make voting harder or easier?

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. PRESIDENT

Kamala Harris (D)

Easier. Pass bills to protect voting rights and make voting and registration easier. Biden administration directed federal agencies to help people register.

Donald Trump (R) 

Harder. Has long supported stronger voter ID requirements. Sued to bar ballot drop boxes. Encouraged Republicans to vote early but said early ballots "get lost" or are "phony."

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. VICE PRESIDENT

Tim Walz (D)

Easier. Approved automatic voter registration, pre- registration for 16- & 17-year-olds, and permanent absentee voting. Restored voting rights for ex-cons.

JD Vance (R) 

Harder. Supports voter ID and ending early and "mass mail-in voting." Proposed giving parents an extra vote per child, with parents deservng more voting power Easier. Approved automatic voter registration, pre- registration for 16- & 17-year-olds, and permanent absentee voting. Restored voting rights for ex-cons. than the childless.

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. SENATE

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D)

Easier. Supports the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to increase enforcement of voting rights. Also voted to expand access to voter registration and voting, limit removing voters from the rolls, and require independent, nonpartisan redistricting.

Rick Scott (R) 

Harder. Supports stricter nationwide requirements for registration, voter ID, and mail-in ballots. Same-day registration "does not allow election officials to verify" voter information's validity and accuracy. As governor, banned campus early-voting sites.

How to ensure effectiveness and fairness in law enforcement?

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. PRESIDENT

Kamala Harris (D)

Police are dedicated public servants. As a prosecutor increased felony convictions by one third. But "public safety requires community trust." Has supported better training, banning choke holds, and prosecuting police misconduct.

Donald Trump (R) 

Police are "under siege." Cut back active federal oversight of excess force, though supported a database to track it. Admires Chinese approach of quick trials and a death penalty for drug dealers so there will be a "zero drug problem."

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. VICE PRESIDENT

Tim Walz (D)

Funded $43 million toward combating violent crime and limited the use of no-knock warrants. Allocated $300 million for public safety aid to local governments. Banned chokeholds.

JD Vance (R) 

"Let's declare war on the violent crime on our streets." "Hire 100,000 additional cops." Keep "qualified immunity," restricting lawsuits against enforcement? police officers. They're "afraid to do their jobs."

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. SENATE

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D)

"We must continue in the fight for justice and accountability within our institutions." Voted to require police reforms such as more body-camera use and banning chokeholds. Address "underlying systemic racism" in policing.

Rick Scott (R) 

Strengthen qualified immunity and legal protections for police. Opposes "proposals like defunding." Supportedoptional incentives to increase use of body cameras, improve training, and diminish chokeholds.

Raise federal minimum from $7.25 an hour?

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. PRESIDENT

Kamala Harris (D)

Yes. Supports Congress raising the national minimum wage to $15. Biden administration raised to $15 for federal contractors.

Donald Trump (R) 

No. A $15 minimum wage would "eliminate jobs." Threatened to veto. Questioned need for a federal minimum wage: let the states decide.

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. VICE PRESIDENT

Tim Walz (D)

Yes. "$15 is an important place to start, but… isn't enough for families." Eliminated a lower minimum wage for small business employees.

JD Vance (R) 

Mixed. Would gradually raise to $11 by 2028. In 2016 called a $15 minimum "a medicine worse than the disease."

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. SENATE

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D)

Yes. "Working Americans making minimum wage shouldn't live in poverty or be forced to work several jobs to make ends meet." Supported a 2019 bill to gradually raise to $15.

Rick Scott (R) 

No. "A federal $15 minimum wage hurt[s] small businesses." As governor, opposed raising the state minimum. The pressing problem is inflation caused by "Biden and the Democrats' spending" — not wages.

Loosen or tighten gun regulations?

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. PRESIDENT

Kamala Harris (D)

Tighten. "Every person deserves the freedom to live safe from gun violence." Supported the bipartisan gun safety bill and required background checks for gun show & online sales.

Donald Trump (R) 

Loosen. To NRA, "no one will lay a finger on your firearms." Plans to roll back Biden gun restrictions. Reversed Obama-era background checks for those with mental illnesses.

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. VICE PRESIDENT

Tim Walz (D)

Tighten. "I'm a veteran, a hunter, and a gun owner… But it's about keeping our kids safe." Signed universal background checks for gun sales and a red flag law. Increased the penalty for straw gun purchases from a gross misdemeanor to a felony.

JD Vance (R) 

Loosen. "I will fight the gun grabbers." Would "ABOLISH the ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.]" Expanded background checks won't solve mass shootings.

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. SENATE

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D)

Tighten. Lost her father to a shooting, so "made it my life's work to end" gun violence. Advocated increasing firearms safety. Voted to expand background checks.

Rick Scott (R) 

Mostly loosen. Opposes "every attempt to deny our 2nd Amendment freedoms." Opposed raising age to own semiautomatic firearms. Supports "red flag" laws.

Loosen or tighten environmental regulations?

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. PRESIDENT

Kamala Harris (D)

Tighten. Supports "environmental justice." In CA prosecuted polluters. Biden admin issued more than 100 environmental regulations.

Donald Trump (R) 

Loosen. Weakened or ended more than 125 environmental protections, including wetlands and wildlife. Will reverse Biden policies

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. VICE PRESIDENT

Tim Walz (D)

Tighten. Signed a ban on toxic "forever chemicals," one of the world's strictest. Gave Pollution Control more power to hold severe polluters accountable. Increased protection for historically polluted neighborhoods.

JD Vance (R) 

Loosen. "Environmental justice" policies are making jobs be shipped to China. Opposed EPA restrictions on steel-making emissions. Voted to limit Fisheries Service establishing critical habitat for endangered species.

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. SENATE

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D)

Tighten. "Our environment is at the heart of everything." Advocated for federal funding to restore the Everglades. Introduced a bill to require using 20 percent of federal water quality clean funds for "green infrastructure."

Rick Scott (R) 

Mostly loosen. Voted to roll back an EPA emissions rule. Cut budgets of state environmental agencies. Helped to secure Everglades funding.

Ban or legal?

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. PRESIDENT

Kamala Harris (D)

Legal. "Every woman should have the right to make decisions about her own body." "This fight is about freedom." With Biden, strengthened abortion pill access and abortion patient protections, overturned Trump Planned Parenthood federal funding ban. Would sign national abortion rights bill if Congress passed

Donald Trump (R) 

Ban. "After 50 years of failure, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade." Did so by appointing three antiabortion Supreme Court Justices. It was "a miracle." States should decide for themselves, potentially monitoring women's pregnancies and prosecuting women for getting abortions. Abortion is "really not that big of an issue."

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. VICE PRESIDENT

Tim Walz (D)

Legal. Enshrined the right to abortion and reproductive health care into state law. Signed a bill to protect MN abortion access for out-of-state patients. "Freedom is on the march in Minnesota."

JD Vance (R) 

Ban. In 2022 said should be "illegal nationally." No exceptions for rape or incest. "Two wrongs don't make a right." Now says leave to the states. Opposed Biden's reproductive care privacy rule.

CANDIDATES FOR U.S. SENATE

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D)

Legal. Supports the ballot measure to guarantee abortion rights in the Florida constitution. Supports federal protection of abortion rights. Bans like Florida's "are putting women's lives at risk" and strip women of "fundamental freedoms."

Rick Scott (R) 

Ban. Supported Florida's 6-week ban. Celebrated the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade. Opposes the Florida ballot measure to guarantee abortion rights. Voted for a national 20-week ban. Now says leave decision to states.