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Thursday, June 30, 2011

Florida Democratic Party objects to Florida’s Omnibus Elections Law Bill


The Florida Democratic Party (“FDP”) objects to the pre-clearance of Florida’s Omnibus Elections Law Bill, which the Florida Department of State submitted on or about June 8, 2011.

The FDP believes the following provisions of Chapter 2011-40, Laws of Florida, violate Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Specific violations are:

(1) Section 39, which reduces the number of days for early voting from fourteen to eight, and gives local supervisors of elections discretion over early voting hours;

(2) Section 26, which eliminates the right of registered voters who move from one Florida county to another to change their addresses at the time of voting, and instead requiring the voter to cast a provisional ballot; and

(3) Section 4, which requires any third-party organization engaging in voter registration efforts to submit voter registration applications within 48 hours of receipt, or face penalties of $50 per application per day late, and imposing fines of up to $1,000 for failing to comply with other provisions.1

In addition, the Florida Department of State’s submission omits certain required contents, namely, Emergency Rules promulgated by the Florida Division of Elections to implement Chapter 2011-40’s amendments to the third-party voter registration laws, which are also problematic.

Rightardia hopes that the Obama administration rejects the act which was intended to suppress voting, particularly of minorities.

Early voting in Florida has been allowed for 15-days prior to the election for the past 40 years in Florida. Light voter turnouts invariably benefit the militant ideologues of the GOP.

Democrats would be wise to request absentee ballots prior to the next election. See http://election.dos.state.fl.us/voting/absentee.shtml

See Florida Democratic party chairman Rod Smith's letter to the Voting Section
of the Civil Rights Division, United States Department of Justice at http://fladems.3cdn.net/bff8f0ca9e965bb2eb_udm6iiokf.pdf


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