Suppressing the vote in Florida

A
New York Times editorial                                                  Read Spanish Version

(Editor’s
Note: Leading the charge trying to pass new rules to keep voters from
voting in Florida is Cuban American republican State Sen. Alex Diaz
de la Portilla. Others involved include many of the “usual
suspects”…)

Since
2000, Florida has been synonymous with badly run and undemocratic
elections. This distinction has not come to it by chance. Many of the
state’s election officials and legislators work hard to keep
eligible voters from casting ballots. The Florida Legislature is at
it again, threatening to pass new rules that would make it harder for
eligible voters, especially those from minorities and those who are
poor, to register and vote.

Republican
state legislators, who are behind the latest bills, want to make it
illegal for anyone to get within 100 feet of a line of voters. That
provision would criminalize election protection programs, in which
nonpartisan volunteers make themselves available outside of polling
places on Election Day to ensure that eligible voters know their
legal rights and are able to cast ballots.

The
legislation would also impose onerous and unnecessary rules on voter
registration drives, including a requirement that registration forms
must be turned in within 48 hours. Grass-roots voter registration
drives play an important role in getting poor and minority voters
registered. If this legislation passes, however, many groups may stop
registering voters rather than risk jail sentences or fines.

The
elderly, a sizable voting bloc in Florida, would also be hard hit.
They would no longer be able to use photo IDs issued by retirement
centers or neighborhood associations at the polls. That would be a
serious hardship for the many elderly people who do not have driver’s
licenses.

Another
provision would require election officials to purge voting rolls more
frequently, a sore point in Florida, where an improper purge of the
rolls before the 2000 election removed many eligible voters.

Republican
leaders seem to be trying to push the legislation through quickly,
with a minimum of public attention or comment. If they succeed, the
American Civil Liberties Union of Florida is already threatening to
challenge parts of it in court. It is doubtful that significant parts
of it, like the prohibition on giving legal advice to voters in line,
could survive a constitutional challenge.

Florida
legislators should not need a court to tell them not to interfere
with the right to vote.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/opinion/19sun2.html?scp=1&sq=Florida%20elections&st=Search

Progreso Weekly urges
you to contact Governor Crist to veto Senate Bill 956 if it comes to
his desk. Faxes are better than email! We suggest calling his office
and follow up with a fax!

Telephones:

Citizen Services
Hotline: (850) 488-4441

Executive Office of
the Governor Switchboard: (850) 488-7146

[Office hours are 8:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time]

Fax: (850) 487-0801