The U.S. Department of Justice has approved three troublesome changes to state election laws, including restrictions on third-party voter registration drives which help minority voters register and impose severe fines on groups that mishandle voter registration cards. The changes will not be put into effect at the polls during the state's primary because the decision came too close to the Jan. 29 date.

The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division approved legislative changes that exclude employer IDs or buyer club IDs as acceptable forms of identification at the polls; a voter who casts a provisional ballot will now have only two days to provide supporting documentation; and increase penalties for third-party groups that violate the law in conducting voter registration drives. Another change is under review that would require that before a voter can vote, their driver's license number or last four digits of a Social Security number must be verified as accurate. This was not decided on because it is currently the subject of a federal lawsuit.

The new law will increase penalties on groups that do not file the registration forms within a small time frame. Organizations will also be punished for innocent mistakes and possibly the state's neglect or loss of applications.

The Brennan Center for Justice press release states;

"This decision will effectively disenfranchise thousands of minority voters across Florida. Black and Hispanic voters and voters from Spanish-speaking households are twice as likely to register to vote through these third-party voter registration drives than white voters or voters from English-speaking households," said Renée Paradis, Counsel in the Brennan Center's Democracy Program. "By making it difficult to conduct voter registration drives, Florida's law reduces the electoral participation of eligible voters from communities protected under the Voting Rights Act."

A new report by electiononline.org — a project of Pew's Center on the States — reflects on the passage of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) five years ago, examining what these crucial early years of development might mean for elections in HAVA's next five years and beyond. The report — The Help America Vote Act at 5 -- argues that

"HAVA represented a dramatic shift in the relationship between the federal government and its state and local counterparts in the area of election reform — namely the promise of nearly $4 billion in federal funds tied to a series of federal requirements, all to be enforced by a new federal agency.

Oral arguments in the much-anticipated Indiana voter ID law case -- Crawford v. Marion County Election Board -- were made before the U.S. Supreme Court this past Wednesday, January 9th. Read the transcript here

Posted by Katie Clabby, 03:54:32 PM

Wednesday, January 09, 2008