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DOJ approves all but the crucial parts of HB 1355

Posted Aug 9, 2011 by William March

Updated Aug 9, 2011 at 01:38 PM

Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning just announced that the U.S. Department of Justice approved all the remaining parts of the controversial HB 1355 elections bill left for it to consider, after the state withdrew four controversial provisions and sought court approval instead.

Critics contend the remaining four provisions were passed by the legislative Republican majority in an attempt to cut turnout of Democratic voters in the 2012 elections. Proponents say the provisions are intended to prevent fraud and cut the costs of elections.

Those provisions include:

—Making it more difficult for “third parties,” meaning volunteer civic or political organizations, to register voters independently.
—Making it more difficult for citizens to change the state Constitution through petition drives.
—Prohibiting the previous practice of allowing voters who have moved to change their addresses and cast ballots at the polling place on election day.
—Cutting the number of days of early voting.

After organizations including the NAACP, League of Women Voters and ACLU asked the Department of Justice to overrule those four provisions, Browning and Gov. Rick Scott moved instead to ask a federal court in Washington to approve them.

The Department of Justice has authority over new election laws in Florida because the state is covered by the federal Voting Rights Act.