As reported in the Tampa Bay Times, Secretary of State Ken Detzner has issued a directive to Supervisors of Elections in all 67 counties instructing them to make the absentee voting process more difficult.

Specifically, Detzner — a former lobbyist and Jeb Bush appointee brought on by Gov. Rick Scott last year — has directed SOEs to “never solicit the delivery of absentee ballots to any location other than the supervisors’ offices,” i.e. not to early-voting polling places or convenient drop-off sites available in some counties. This will create much longer drives for folks wishing to vote by absentee ballot, especially in big (largely Democratic) counties.

State Senate candidate and political scientist Dr. Judithanne MacLauchlan pointed out via social media yesterday that “more than 105,000 Pinellas voters returned their ballots to dropoff sites in the 2012 presidential election,” constituting 42 percent of the county’s absentee ballot total.