January 27, 2008

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE APPROVES AMMENDMENTS TO FLORIDA'S ELECTION LAW

Advancement Project is disappointed to report that on January 23, 2008, the U.S. Department of Justice approved amendments to Florida’s election law which impose burdens on Floridians’ right to vote, including restricting the types of identification that may be presented at the polls.  These amendments, which had been scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2008, will not be in effect for the presidential preference primary on Tuesday, January 29, 2008. 

In 2007, the Florida legislature changed provisions of the election code, including, among other things, restricting the types of acceptable identification that voters can present at the polls (excluding an employee badge identification and a buyer’s club identification); reducing the amount of time a voter may present written evidence in support of her provisional ballot (from three days to two days); and altering the regulation of third-party organizations that conduct voter registration. Under the Voting Rights Act, federal officials or a federal court must approve changes to election laws in jurisdictions with a history of racially discriminatory voting practices, including five counties in Florida. 

In reviewing Florida’s 2007 amendments to its election code, the Department of Justice determined that it would be inappropriate to review Florida’s “matching” statute, which requires verification of a voter applicant’s driver’s license number or last four digits of her Social Security number with information in a state or federal database.  A federal court in Gainesville, Florida enjoined that law in response to a challenge brought by Advancement Project, the Brennan Center for Justice at N.Y.U. School of Law, Project Vote, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and Greenberg Traurig LLP and Florida’s Secretary of State has appealed the ruling.

We encourage all Florida voters and their advocates to remember that on Tuesday, voters can still present at the polls any one of the following valid picture identifications: 1) Florida driver’s license, 2) Florida identification card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, 3) United States passport, 4) debit or credit card, 5) military identification, 6) student identification, 7) retirement center identification 8) neighborhood association identification, 9) public assistance identification, 10) employee badge identification, or 11) buyer’s club identification.  If this identification does not include a signature, a voter should bring additional signature identification.  Registered voters who are entitled to vote in that precinct but who do not have identification can cast a provisional ballot that will be counted as long as the signature on the provisional ballot envelope matches the signature on the voter registration record.  Further, if a voter casts a provisional ballot on Tuesday, she has until 5 p.m. on Friday to bring written documentation supporting her eligibility to vote to the Supervisor of Elections’ office.  For example, if there is a question regarding her address, she could present to the Supervisor a copy of her lease or a utility bill.