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Judge Strikes Down Some Florida Voter Registration Laws

A federal judge on Thursday barred enforcement of part of the state’s controversial elections law, saying the rules made it too difficult for non-governmental organizations to register voters.

Opponents of the law, approved by the Legislature last year, cheered the decision by District Court Judge Robert Hinkle to issue an injunction against some portions of the statute, most notably a provision requiring voter registration forms to be returned to elections officials within 48 hours of being filled out.

But supporters minimized the ruling and said that the core of the measure — which made sweeping changes to the law governing how Floridians vote — remained intact.

The judge also placed some restrictions on what paperwork the state could require from voter-registration groups and their volunteers; lawyers were still trying to plow through the implications of that part of the ruling.

The clearest victory for critics of the measure, though, was on the time limit for turning in voter registration forms, which had been 10 days before lawmakers shortened it to two. Hinkle agreed with voting-rights organizations like the League of Women Voters, Rock the Vote and the Florida Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, who argued that the new standards were too stringent.

“If the goal is to discourage voter-registration drives and thus also to make it harder for new voters to register, the 48-hour deadline may succeed,” Hinkle wrote. “But if the goal is to further the state’s legitimate interests without unduly burdening the rights of voters and voter registration organizations, 48 hours is a bad choice.”

Hinkle also barred the state from requiring volunteers to sign a form that misled voters about the penalties for unknowingly submitting forms with inaccurate information on them.

The groups that challenged the law, which have largely suspended their registration drives and other activities in the state, were cautiously optimistic about the outcome.

“With those two things out of the way, we intend and expect to be able to get back to work,” said Heather Smith, president of Rock the Vote.

At the same time, the organizations said they were going to be careful about putting volunteers back in the field before they finished reviewing the ruling.

“We just want to make 100 percent sure that they are not at any risk doing this very important volunteer activity,” said Deirdre Macnab, president of the League of Women Voters of Florida.

Supporters of the bill said that the voter-registration changes were not central to the bill, which also reduced the number of early-voting days; barred voters from changing their addresses as the polling place; and set new standards for citizen-initiative petitions.

“I don’t think they’re glaring issues in the overall content of a bill that size,” said Rep. Dennis Baxley, the Ocala Republican who sponsored the law during last year’s legislative session.

But Lenny Curry, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, said he was disappointed the measure was struck down.

“This would guarantee that new voters know with certainty they have joined millions of legal voters in being able to participate in our great democratic process,” Curry said.

Gov. Rick Scott’s office said he would review his options, but didn’t specifically say what steps he might take. The state has 30 days to decide whether it wants to appeal. He also noted, however, that most of the law was upheld.

The ruling was the latest in a series of legal maneuvers around which parts of the massive bill will remain in place. A state judge rebuffed a challenge from former state Sen. Nancy Argenziano to a portion of the law that would have barred the Republican-turned-Independent from running for Congress as a Democrat in 2012.

And a federal court in Washington, D.C., is considering whether to allow the most controversial portions of the law to go into effect in five counties covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Because of a history of racial and language discrimination in those counties, any changes to elections laws must be precleared either by the court or the U.S. Department of Justice.
However, opponents contend that if parts of the law are barred in those counties, they would have to be ignored statewide.

“Frankly, I think the bulk of the voter suppression legislation approved by majority party members in the Legislature is an assault on one of our basic rights as U.S. citizens and the law should be replaced with reasonable rules regulating Florida’s elections,” said incoming House Democratic Leader Perry Thurston of Plantation.

A ruling in the preclearance case could come soon.

By Brandon Larrabee
The News Service of Florida