Florida Polling Ban Won't Go Ahead

Florida's lawmakers will not move forward with a bill which threatened to stop public colleges and universities from polling views on political candidates, according to the Insights Association (IA).

Florida S.B. 1726, which officially lapsed on the senate floor at the end of the legislative session a week ago, contained multiple reforms to the governance of the State University System of Florida. The Association says it included one specific provision prohibiting public colleges and universities from election polling focused on candidates - 'though not survey research on 'social, political, and economic issues unrelated to candidate preference.' The candidate research ban would have applied before or after an election, at any distance in time.

The clause in question was added by the Appropriations Committee on Higher Education, and the bill had comfortably passed three earlier Committee votes. IA Senior VP Advocacy Howard Fienberg welcomed the death of the bill, stating: 'Election polling, including by a Florida public higher education institution, supports transparency, accountability and civic engagement. It is a form of free political expression and inquiry protected by the First Amendment and vital to the health and integrity of American democracy. Research helps to inform voters, parties and candidates. Allowing any entity to poll electoral candidate races ensures that no single narrative can dominate the public discourse.'

Web site: www.insightsassociation.org .