PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — One of the most-talked-about moments of Tuesday's night debate between Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and Democratic challenger Rep. Val Demings was an exchange over election integrity and voter rights.
The highly-charged, one-hour debate took place at Palm Beach State College's Lake Worth campus.
During a portion of the heated discussion, Demings brought up a new law passed in Florida last year that reduced the number of drop boxes, which allows voters to securely drop off their ballot.
"Why do that, particularly in certain areas, senator?" Demings asked Rubio. "Your job is to make sure that every person votes. The ones who may vote for you, and the ones who may not vote for you. That is your responsibility. So, if it's so perfect, why the adjustments?"
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Rubio was allowed to rebut Demings's comments and said he has never supported any voter suppression efforts. He challenged why drop boxes have become more prevalent over the last decade and questioned if they are safe.
"There's danger involved in drop boxes. People need to think about it. Imagine if someone decides, 'Oh, there's a drop box, I'm just going to put some explosive in it, and blow it up and burn all of those ballots.' And now those votes don't count at all," Rubio said. "There's something with elections, there are two things that are very important. No. 1 the count has to be accurate ... but the other is there has to be public confidence. The public has to believe that the elections were fair and balanced. That's what I've always been in favor of."
Rubio went on to claim that Democrats want a "federal takeover" of the election system, which he said he opposed.
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Demings, who has served three terms in Congress, then called Rubio's claims that Democrats want a federal takeover of elections "nonsense."
"We passed the Voting Rights Advancement Act in the House of Representatives because of the unbelievable voter suppression efforts that were going on by the senator and his party," Demings said. "Let people vote. That's nonsense what he just said. We want every person to vote."
The use of drop boxes has become a lightning rod for controversy in multiple states, not just Florida.
Democrats have contended that the increase of the secure metal boxes allows people to easily cast their ballot. However, many Republicans have pushed back saying they reduce voter security, despite any evidence that it is less secure than any other method of voting.
