Gov. Rick Scott signed HB 1355 into law Thursday afternoon -- an elections bill Democrats see as crucial to their 2012 get-out-the-vote efforts in Florida and one that has already been the subject of a lawsuit.
Democrats have derided HB 1355, which passed through the Legislature in party-line votes, as a naked partisan attack aimed at disenfranchising many voters throughout the state who historically lean Democratic.
But it was a Republican, former state representative and Miami-Dade County mayoral candidate Marcelo Llorente, who filed a lawsuit against the bill Wednesday, before it became law. He brought the suit after the Miami-Dade County supervisor of elections office posted a notice Monday that previously scheduled early voting hours on Sunday would be canceled due to the passage of HB 1355.
HB 1355s provision reducing the number of the early voting period from two weeks to one week -- although it allows for a maximum of 96 hours of early voting as in current statute -- is one of several in the bill that Democrats and left-leaning progressive groups say target their voters.
Other controversial provisions in the law prevent voters from changing their address if they move out of the county on the day of an election (although there is an exemption for military members and their family), impose fines on third-party voter registration groups that send in false names or fail to report those they register within 48 hours, reduce the time period for citizens seeking constitutional amendments to gather petition signatures from four years to two years, and set up a committee to determine the date of the 2012 Republican presidential preference primary.
Although much of the law wont become effective until July 1, the early voting portion became effective upon Scotts signature, allowing Miami-Dade County to cancel Sundays early voting hours. The Miami-Dade County supervisor of elections expanded the early voting hours on Saturday from four to eight to make up for the missed day.
Circuit Court Judge Barbara Areces did not render a ruling on the case immediately after the hearing Thursday.
Once again, the county chose not to side with its residents. I call upon the County Commission to immediately reverse their position and join us in preserving what was duly advertised to the voters as the last day of early voting, Llorente said after the hearing.
Llorentes suit was only aimed at keeping the Sunday early voting hours open, and didnt give an assessment of the remainder of the law during a conference call Wednesday.
Democrats, however, havent been as shy in expressing their displeasure at the entirety of the law. Several Democratic state legislators, unable to halt the bills passage because they are vastly outnumbered in the both the House and Senate, urged citizens to pressure Scott to veto the bill.
This bill was not requested by an overwhelming number of citizens or supervisors of elections. This bill does nothing to increase the number of voters. However, it will reduce the number of eligible voters and provisional ballots cast, said Rep. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, in a message released earlier in the week urging citizens to call Scott and ask him to veto the bill.
Scott duly received thousands of letters and e-mails asking him for a veto, but signed the bill nonetheless.
Republican lawmakers who helped pass the law defended it as a measure preventing the potential for voter fraud, even though there has been scant evidence of voter fraud in recent elections.
"This bill streamlines the registration process and tightens regulations surrounding third-party groups to ensure voter fraud is kept to a minimum. It helps ensure that voters properly register and head to the polls at the right time. This is an issue that needs to be addressed, and this bill upholds the significance of the voting process," said Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami, who sponsored the bill in the Senate.
Scott seemed to echo those concerns over voter fraud during a press conference Tuesday.
The things I care about with regard to elections -- I want to make sure people have the opportunity to get out and vote. I want people to get out and vote and I dont want fraud. Thatll be the filter I use in going through the bill, Scott said.
The angst of state Democrats over the law notwithstanding, it is Floridas congressional Democratic delegation that has the potential to help overturn the law. All six of the Sunshine States Democrats in the U.S. House sent a letter to the Department of Justice Tuesday asking for a review of the law under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
A spokesperson for Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wednesday that her office is prepared to defend the law if necessary, but will wait until any federal lawsuit is filed before taking a more active hand.
Reach Gray Rohrer at grohrer@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
