Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning announced Friday the State of Florida will seek approval of four key provisions of a controversial new elections law, (HB 1355) from a federal court rather than the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The move by Gov. Rick Scott and Browning comes two months after the bill was originally submitted to the DOJ for review and “pre-clearance” under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Because of a history of racial discrimination, five Florida counties must obtain “pre-clearance” and approval from the DOJ or federal district court for all changes affecting elections.
Amongst the four sections removed from the DOJ review are the most contentious sections on which Browning is asking approval from the federal court. These are: a reduction in the number of early voting days; a provision barring voters from changing their addresses at polling stations on election day; new rules undermining the ability of groups to register voters; and new standards for citizen-initiative petitions.
Although the new elections law (HB 1355) is widely viewed by many, including the non-partisan Brennan Center for Justice in New York, to negatively impact a wide range of voters, Governor Rick Scott signed the bill into law amidst much controversy last May.
On July 15, the League of Women Voters and others sent a letter to the DOJ requesting that it deny pre-clearance on the grounds the new law would suppress voting, with the burdens being imposed hardest on the state’s vulnerable voters–minority citizens in Florida.
Reacting to Browning’s latest maneuver, League president Deirdre Macnab said, “Today’s decision suggests that the state lacks confidence in the legality of these controversial provisions. If Governor Scott and Secretary Browning believe that the bill complies with the Voting Rights Act, why not allow DOJ to review the entire bill?”
Macnab added that she is confident that the law will eventually be overturned, but that the most recent development “will undoubtedly result in unnecessary delay for voters, at great cost to Florida taxpayers.”
Browning said in a news release Friday that, the state decided to file the lawsuit to avoid “the risk of a ruling impacted by outside influence.”
In June, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) along with several organizations, opposed to the new law, filed suit to block Browning from enforcing it in Florida’s 62 other counties unless and until the DOJ pre-cleared the new rules.
Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida, Howard Simon, said his group is looking at intervening in the new lawsuit. Browning and Scott went to the D.C. court in order to avoid a loss at the DOJ, Simon said.
“By making this move, the Governor has exposed the taxpayers to a much longer, more costly legal fight to defend his indefensible Voter Suppression law,” Simon said. “It should be as clear as ever that they will spend whatever it takes and do whatever they can to restrict the right to vote and stack the deck for the 2012 election and beyond.”
[…] law be rejected. Passed during the spring legislative session, the DSCC said in their memo Florida’s new elections law “will result in fewer registered minority voters, fewer ballots cast by minority voters, and […]