Sen. Bill Nelson

Looking for military cover after U.S. special forces killed Osama bin Laden, Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson claimed Monday that a Republican election-reform package would make it harder for service personnel to vote.

Nelson, who is running for re-election in 2012, said that the Florida House bill would "disenfranchise" people like the Navy Seals and other military and intelligence personnel who spearheaded the raid on bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan.

“Don’t make it harder to vote,” the senator said. “Don’t make it harder to register to vote. And don’t make it harder to count your vote.”

Republicans immediately returned fire, calling Nelson's charge a "political stunt" that played fast and loose with the facts.

"It is clear that Senator Nelson is ill-informed about the specifics of the legislation," said Katie Betta, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Dean Cannon.

The two-term senator, speaking at a news conference hosted by the House Democratic Caucus, contended that the House bill, scheduled to be considered by the Senate this week, takes aim at college students and military personnel who are most likely to move.

Nelson said the measure, among other things, alters existing election law that allows voters to change their addresses and names at the polls. Under the revised law, such voters would have to cast a provisional ballot, which requires future confirmation of residency.

Betta responded: "Senator Nelson takes a situation that would have already resulted in a discrepancy -- and one for which a remedy already exists -- and implies that our bill would adversely impact the situation and result in the service member not being able to cast a vote.

"In reality -- under FS 101.68 (2), which has been on the books for years – having a voter registration card that says 'William Jones' and signing the absentee ballot 'SGT Bill Jones' already results in a discrepancy. That is why federal law requires overseas military absentees to be sent a 45-day out, so that the supervisors [of elections] have enough time to seek a resolution for these types of discrepancies to ensure that the service member’s ballot is counted.

"Furthermore, our bill goes one step further. When 'SGT Jones' requested his absentee ballot, he would have received a reminder to update his signature. He would have then received a confirmation from the supervisor confirming the update."

Betta said that the House bill was amended "so that a voter within the same county can do a same-day change of address and still cast a regular ballot.