Florida Legislature imperils voting rights; two Federal injunctions prevent implementation.

NAACP v. Browning
Federal injunction issued December 18, 2007

League of Women Voters v. Cobb
Federal injunction issued August 28, 2006

Both lawsuits name the Florida Secretary of State -- Kurt Browning replaced Sue Cobb.

The NAACP case is against a new matching hurdle a "requirement that the driver�s license or Social Security number on a registration form be verified before a voter can be registered to vote."

This error-laden practice converts an administrative recordkeeping measure to a burden on voters, upending federal laws designed to ensure that bureaucratic mistakes no longer disenfranchised eligible citizens. Records indicate that the practice has already unduly delayed or denied the registration of more than 76,000 Florida citizens, with more than 14,000 still blocked from the rolls, and could disenfranchise far more in 2008 if not struck down.
* * *
Florida prohibits elections officials from placing eligible citizens on the rolls unless they clear a series of extra bureaucratic hurdles largely dependent on �matching� registration information on a new statewide voter list with information in the state motor vehicle or Social Security systems. A citizen registering as �Bill� might not �match� if his Social Security number is issued under �William�. A woman�s married name might not match against a database where she is listed under her maiden name. Haitian-American and other Latino citizens who use compound names like �Jean-Robert Martin� or �Gabriel García Márquez� may find themselves with part of their first or last name listed as a middle name and unable to be matched.

Moreover, some immaterial mistakes by voters become entirely insurmountable hurdles under Florida�s rule: an eligible voter who happens to swap two digits of her driver�s license number on the registration form will be blocked from casting a valid vote, no matter what kind of other documentation she is able to show.

On December 18, 2007, a federal judge enjoined the Florida law [in the NAACP case], finding that the law has resulted in "actual harm to real individuals." The case is currently on appeal in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral argument is scheduled for January 18, 2008.

http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/florida_naacp_v_browning/

The League of Women Voters case involves potentially heavy civil fines for individuals and groups involved in 3rd party voter registration for any voter registration forms turned in late with no exceptions for events beyond their control.

Pursuant to a federal court-ordered injunction issued on August 28, 2006, the Florida Department of State will not enforce the Third-Party Voter Registration Organization law (section 97.0575, Florida Statutes). Federal Court Order: League of Women Voters of Florida et al. v. Cobb, US Southern District Court of Florida

Therefore, pending further official notice to the contrary, third-party voter registration activities conducted by organizations, entities, or individuals are not subject to the Third-Party Voter Registration Organization law but are still governed by all other applicable provisions of the Florida Election Code.

This case is under appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

http://election.dos.state.fl.us/voterreg/voting_info.shtml#3votereg

After the appeal was briefed, on May 21, 2007, Florida enacted amendments to the challenged law, which are scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2008 if precleared [by the U.S. Department of Justice] under the Voting Rights Act. (As of July 23, 2007, the state had not yet submitted the amended law to the U.S. Department of Justice for preclearance.)

The law as amended leaves in place the essential features that have interfered with plaintiffs' voter registration drivesâ�"escalating fines for failing to meet arbitrary deadlines,3 nearly strict liability for those fines (with exceptions only for "impossibility" and "force majeure"), and the risk of significant fines for individual volunteers and employees of plaintiffs' voter registration drives.

Although the amended law imposes a $1000 annual limit on fines for each "voter registration organization" and its "affiliate organizations," there is a risk that individuals and related entities working on a voter registration drive will each be liable for up to $1000 in fines each year for their First Amendment activity under the amended law's vague language.

PLAINTIFFS-APPELLEES' OPPOSITION TO APPELLANTS'
SUGGESTION OF IMPENDING MOOTNESS

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF FLORIDA, ET AL.,
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
SECRETARY OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, ET ANO.,
http://www.brennancenter.org/page/-/d/download_file_50120.pdf


Florida Statutes

97.0575 Third-party voter registrations.--
* * *
(3) A third-party voter registration organization that collects voter registration applications serves as a fiduciary to the applicant, ensuring that any voter registration application entrusted to the third-party voter registration organization, irrespective of party affiliation, race, ethnicity, or gender shall be promptly delivered to the division or the supervisor of elections. If a voter registration application collected by any third-party voter registration organization is not promptly delivered to the division or supervisor of elections, the third-party voter registration organization shall be liable for the following fines:

(a) A fine in the amount of $50 for each application received by the division or the supervisor of elections more than 10 days after the applicant delivered the completed voter registration application to the third-party voter registration organization or any person, entity, or agent acting on its behalf. A fine in the amount of $250 for each application received if the third-party registration organization or person, entity, or agency acting on its behalf acted willfully.

(b) A fine in the amount of $100 for each application collected by a third-party voter registration organization or any person, entity, or agent acting on its behalf, prior to book closing for any given election for federal or state office and received by the division or the supervisor of elections after the book closing deadline for such election. A fine in the amount of $500 for each application received if the third-party registration organization or person, entity, or agency acting on its behalf acted willfully.

(c) A fine in the amount of $500 for each application collected by a third-party voter registration organization or any person, entity, or agent acting on its behalf, which is not submitted to the division or supervisor of elections. A fine in the amount of $1,000 for any application not submitted if the third-party registration organization or person, entity, or agency acting on its behalf acted willfully.

The aggregate fine pursuant to this subsection which may be assessed against a third-party voter registration organization, including affiliate organizations, for violations committed in a calendar year shall be $1,000. The fines provided in this subsection shall be reduced by three-fourths in cases in which the third-party voter registration organization has complied with subsection (1). The secretary shall waive the fines described in this subsection upon a showing that the failure to deliver the voter registration application promptly is based upon force majeure or impossibility of performance.

(4)(a) The division shall adopt by rule a form to elicit specific information concerning the facts and circumstances from a person who claims to have been registered by a third-party voter registration organization but who does not appear as an active voter on the voter registration rolls.

(b) The division may investigate any violation of this section. Civil fines shall be assessed by the division and enforced through any appropriate legal proceedings.

(5) The date on which an applicant signs a voter registration application is presumed to be the date on which the third-party voter registration organization received or collected the voter registration application.

(6) The civil fines provided in this section are in addition to any applicable criminal penalties.

* * *
History.--s. 7, ch. 2005-277; s. 2, ch. 2007-30.

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0097/SEC0575.HTM&Title=-%3E2007-%3ECh0097-%3ESection%200575#0097.0575

As always,
on the front lines in Florida,

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL