Advancement Project Outraged Bad Florida Legislation Passed
Florida Voting Advocates Outraged Over Senate And House Committees Passing Election Bills: A Travesty To Democracy
April 20, 2009
Tia T. Gordon, 202/728-9557 or 202/906-0149
Advancement Project, a national civil rights organization with voting protection efforts in Florida, is extremely dismayed with the Florida Senate Ethics and Election Committee, and the House Economic Development and Community Affairs Policy Council, for passing proposed bills seeking to severely restrict voting rights of the state’s residents. The committee substitute Senate Bill 956 (S.B. 956), by Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla, and proposed House committee bill PCB-EDCA 09-08, are extremely far-reaching and offer nothing in the way of positive changes to Florida’s administration of its elections, already riddled with rules that burden eligible voters.
Advancement Project, along with its local coalition partners, considers these bills not only unnecessary, but also harmful, placing unnecessary and unfair burdens on Florida voters. We believe such a brazen attempt by state legislators to grab money, power, and influence by taking away the civil rights of eligible voters, including those citizens who are most vulnerable such as elderly and low-income voters. This legislation has a dramatically negative impact on the state’s voters and voting process and ultimately disenfranchises far more voters than it might ever help.
In fact, S.B. 956 is a draconian legislation on many fronts, involving: unfair registration rules, violating voting rights; restricting freedom of speech, hindering voter initiatives, suppressing campaign finance reform and returns to a lack of transparency. If the legislature chooses to proceed with this legislation, Advancement Project believes Florida lawmakers should be prepared to recognize that they are intentionally speaking out against the voters of Florida, and ensuring more difficult and less inclusive voting access in future elections. We are ashamed of the actions of these state policymakers and encourage them to seek legislation that improves election laws that meet the needs and concerns of all Floridians, rather than establishing barriers that hinder their right to vote.
Advancement Project's core purpose is to develop, encourage, pioneer and widely disseminate innovative ideas and models that inspire and mobilize a broad national racial justice movement so that universal opportunity and a just democracy are achieved.
The organization was founded on the principle that structural racism can be eliminated and a racially just democracy may be attained through multi-racial collective action by organized communities. Advancement Project's founding team of veteran civil rights lawyers and communications experts have established an organization that informs community organizing with careful legal analysis and strategic communications campaigns. We develop community-based solutions based on the same high quality legal analysis and public education campaigns that produced the landmark civil rights victories of earlier eras.
