« Is Sprawl Really That Bad? | Blog Index | More Signs of Coral Bleaching »

Advertisement

recent entries Condi Busted on Her Own Personal State of Denial Which Is Worse: The U.S. Torturing British Residents or Britain Not Taking Them Back? Salacious Exchanges With Underage Male Pages Foley Now In Deeper Trouble Environmental Damage: Another Reason Why a Border Fence is a Bad Idea Supreme Court Declines to Take Up Sex Toys Texas to DC: Don't Fence Me In Update--PERA Has Passed In the House of Representatives Woodward, Kissinger, Vietnam--Let's Do The Time Warp Again They've known about Foley for almost a YEAR?

Florida sued over voter registration law

A law passed in Florida last year that fines nonpartisan voter registration activities under certain circumstances, is being challenged in U.S. District Court by the League of Women Voters and several other nonpartisan organizations. The law has forced the League and similar groups to discontinue all voter registration drives, while permitting partisan groups to hold such drives.

In 2004, over half a million Floridians were assisted in voter registration by nonpartisan citizens groups. The 2005 law is described as a reform: A $5,000 fine is imposed for each voter registration application that a nonpartisan group fails to submit. There are less severe fines for missing registration deadlines, which are enforced even in the event of something as catastophic as a hurricane.

The plaintiffs, however, say that the severity of the law has forced them to shut down their voter registration efforts. The suit is being filed on the grounds that the law "violates U.S. free speech rights and disproportionately discriminates against low-income, minority, disabled, and other marginalized citizens in Florida who rely on plaintiffs and similar groups to help them overcome barriers to registering to vote."

Posted by Diane E. Dees on 05/19/06 at 2:00 PM | E-mail | Print

---

TrackBacks

Comments

Post a comment

Name:

Email Address:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments: