Posted on 05/03/2008 4:24:50 AM PDT by fweingart
Florida is courting electoral trouble. Heading toward another presidential election, state officials are making it increasingly difficult for citizens to vote.
Thanks to state laws, national election experts are warning that Florida is one of the hardest places to vote. Recent court decisions and a lamentable move by Secretary of State Kurt Browning could make matters worse.
The potential result: Thousands of eligible Florida voters -- many of them poor, black and Hispanic -- will be prevented from having a voice in the November election.
Fining third parties
Among the objectionable election laws, one chills voter-registration drives by imposing fines on third parties, such as the League of Women Voters, if they fail to turn in registration forms quickly. Though the state previously had agreed not to enforce the law, recently Mr. Browning announced he would begin to do so.
He should rethink the decision. A previous version of the law was struck down as unconstitutional in 2006. Now the state is being sued again by the League. The suit argues that the law is unconstitutional. The law also targets minority voters, who are more likely to register to vote through third parties than through government authorities.
Another law known as the ''no match, no vote'' provision disenfranchises voters when information on their voter-registration application fails to match exactly with government databases. So a voter will be disqualified because of a typo in Social Security records.
Hispanic voters are unfairly impacted because there are relatively more database flaws among Hispanic names.
Government errors shouldn't stop anyone from voting. Four states have gotten rid of similar, unfair laws. Florida should follow suit.
Florida also is one of just seven states that require voters to provide photo identification at the polls. On Monday, the Supreme Court upheld Indiana's photo ID law, saying it was a valid means of deterring fraud. However, the ruling left room for another challenge that could demonstrate that the law unconstitutionally stopped eligible voters from casting ballots.
Right to vote
While Florida's law allows a variety of IDs, legislators are considering a bill (S 866) that would make it more restrictive by eliminating buyer's club cards and employee badges. That would be wrong.
Ensuring electoral integrity is critically important. Equally sacred is the fundamental right to vote of every citizen. Unfortunately, many of Florida's restrictive voting laws, approved in recent years by the Republican-led Legislature, disproportionately impact the poor and minorities who lean toward the Democratic Party. The state should make every effort to encourage voters, not block them for partisan reasons.
That's not what this is about. Not at all. Instead, in their heart of hearts, the Miami Herald editorial staff has to know why they're really making this lame argument.
It's simply a plea to make it easier for the Democrat party cheat -- with fake registrations by ACORN, give illegals the vote, etc.
They're no more concerned with the "right of citizens to vote" than the average swamp cabbage.
Liberals have made a profession of lying. But, still, you wonder how they can look at themselves in the mirror every morning...
Certainly the Democrats don't want those people voting in these elections. My goodness they might vote to build another store or something and then where would the Democrats shop?
The Indiana law should definitely be adopted in Florida.
Never did a “journalist” ask him to release phone company records to support his phony claim.
Don’t know the guys name but I’m sure he was part of the concerted effort making those claims. The dems even had a phone bank in operation prior to the closing of the polls calling folks with the message: “You may have mistakingly voted for PJB...”
And the party that still claims to “support our troops” worked overtime with lawyers to toss the votes of our overseas military men and women.
The Republicrat Party is bad enough, but the Democrap Party is a party of cheaters, liars, socialists, tree-huggers, homosexuals, abortionists, gun-grabbers, America haters, globalists, alarmists, plagerists, atheists, anti-constitutionalists and craven cowards.
(I probably missed something.)
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