The U.S. Justice Department objected late Friday to new provisions of Florida
election law which place strict regulations on third-party voter
registration groups and cut down on the early voting period. DOJ alleged
in a court filing that Florida was unable to prove the new provisions
were not discriminatory under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
“As to the third-party voter registration and early voting changes
enacted… respectively, the United States’ position is that the State has
not met its burden, on behalf of its covered counties, that the two sets
of proposed voting changes are entitled to preclearance under Section 5
of the Voting Rights Act,†according to a court filing.
Florida had begun the preclearance process with DOJ but subsequently
sued the government after federal lawyers asked for additional
information about how some provisions of the state’s new election law
would be enforced.
Non-partisan groups like the League of Women Voters have ended their
voter registration efforts in the state because of the law, which forces
individuals conducting voter registration drives to get permission from
the state and turn in voter registration cards within 48 hours of a
voter filling them out.
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