Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin says he hasn’t heard back from Gov. Rick Scott about what steps will be taken to make sure voters aren’t disenfranchised under the state’s new election process law, and that he plans to hold a field hearing in Florida on the matter.
Florida U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson raised the issue in a letter to Durbin, who had earlier held a hearing in Washington on several new voting laws and whether they might make it harder to vote.
Durbin said in a letter to Nelson this week that he wrote to Scott asking for assurances that legitimate voters wouldn’t be turned away.
“To date, Gov. Scott has not responded to my letter,” Durbin wrote Tuesday.
“In a democracy as vibrant as ours, there is perhaps no right that is more sacred or fundamental than the right to vote,” Durbin continued. “I am deeply troubled by the disenfranchising impact of these recently passed state voting laws. Accordingly, I am writing to inform you of my intention to hold a field hearing of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights in Florida.”
Durbin said the hearing would explore the impact of Florida’s new voting law, which backers said was intended to make it harder for people to vote fraudulently.
Opponents, including Nelson, say it will simply make it harder for people to vote, and many of them may be Democrats.
Durbin hasn’t said when or where the hearing might be.
