Florida judge blocks parts of "onerous" voter registration law

AP Photo

(CBS News) A Federal District judge in Florida placed a preliminary injunction on new Florida voter registration requirements on third-party organizations, calling parts of the law "onerous."

Judge Robert Hinkle said the law imposes "a harsh and impractical" metric for voter registration organizations, referring to record-keeping requirements and a 48-hour deadline to turn registrations in to the state. Failing to adhere to the "prompt" deadline could result in fines for organization.

The suit was brought by three third-party voter registration organizations: League of Women Voters of Florida, the Florida Public Interest Research Group and Rock the Vote.

Hinkle wrote in his 27-page order that the deadline makes voter registration efforts "risky business."

"If the goal is to discourage voter-registration drives and thus also to make it harder for new voters to register, the 48-hour deadline may succeed," Hinkle wrote.

Hinkle also blocked the part of the law that requires the voter registration organization submit the identification of its workers or employees signing people up to vote or handing out voter information pamphlets.

The new law was passed by Florida's Republican legislature and signed into law by Governor Rick Scott, who was elected in 2010. It is one of a wave of new laws passed in the past two years aimed at curtailing voter fraud.

According to The Palm Beach Post, Scott said he is "pleased that central parts of the voter registration law have been upheld by a federal judge," but he hasn't made a decision on how to move forward with the parts of the law struck down.

Groups working on increasing voter registration applauded the decision.

"Today's decision makes clear that laws that make it harder to participate in the political process should be rejected," said Wendy Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center, which represented the voter registration organizations in the case.

Scott is also being challenged on efforts to purge Florida's voting rolls of non-citizens. Civil Rights groups say it violates the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits removing voters from the rolls 90 days before an election. Florida holds an election in August.

[TimeToEvolve]

This is a Republicon who can see how illegal these Tea Bagging Bozos are. He sees that it is too obvious about the fraud and illegal stuff they are doing. If he does not stop the maniacs who hate America, he could be implicated in the crimes of Governor Scott and his right wing ilk.

[minniesucks]

Way to slander your enemy though it's nothing but innuendo, false conjecture, hollow rhetoric and straw dog arguments. Liberals hate America and want to fundamentally transform her. They believe that our Constitution is a very flawed document and we are a mean country. They try to conquer only by division- daily, and they vilify any opposition to their views by scare-tactics, saying the tea party people are extreme and radical, when they are the closest thing to our founding fathers. But hey!! You kool-aid swilling crazies are all cool with revisionist history, so have at it. The majority of the population is now aware of your sham even though you have 80% of the lamestream media in your pocket! Just think if we wonderful patriotic conservatives had that benefit. The liberals would be run out of this nation for good!

[ammo17]

NO MORE ACORN,THE DEMOCRATS CANNOT GO TO THE CEMETERIES FOR THEIR VOTER ROLLS,ANYONE CAN SEE THE REASON BEHIND THIS JUDGES VERDICT.

[ReckonedTruth]

Hinkle also blocked the part of the law that requires the voter registration organization submit the identification of its workers or employees signing people up to vote or handing out voter information pamphlets..

ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO VOLATE--voters rights to privacy..

The re-THUG-li-cans..attempting to turn back the hands of history.. if for some reason..6 months OUT before the election..this law was implemented? WHY NOW? The reason is obvious..as a deterrent to discourage those voters who may be questionable> NOT to vote.

SHAME ON FLORIDA!!!.. the re-THUG-li-CONS..are playing the SAME HAND BOOK.. PLAYED in Florida-- when Gov. Bush and Senator Gore ran for the presidency ..which was voter intimidation & voter fraud accusations- at Florida voting polls as a deterrent to "said" Florida voters..

[rightofwrong]

Just show ID, what's the problem?

[minniesucks]

What an angry, frothing at the mouth rant filled with vitriol and slander. What's the matter? Can't argue with your adversaries on the merits? You have to vilify your opposition/ attack their character because you got nothing? How old are you.. like ten? Name calling is so intellectual. There have been VERY many cases documented- no matter how many times your masters try to convince you otherwise, of voter fraud. Do some research on why Al Franken won by less than 300 votes, there chumly. Don't just look for (convenient) "facts" from the daily kos or media matters. You are obviously a tool, so we know where that will go. I could go on for a day on facts but you'd refute them with left-wing radical distortions anyway, and you're not worth it. Good luck with that hating thing while you remain blind and swilling on kool-aid.

[cntrygirl3]

"The new law was passed by Florida's Republican legislature and signed into law by Governor Rick Scott, who was elected in 2010. It is one of a wave of new laws passed in the past two years aimed at curtailing voter fraud." Not exactly, it is a law like the others to keep as many people as possible from voting. It is very simple the more people that vote the more likely republicans lose. That is why these laws and all of them like them across the country are ALWAYS passed by republicans. They simply wish to stop people from voting.

[minniesucks]

You actually believe that rubbish? If you took the blinders off and stopped following your masters talking point (lies), you'd know that many recent elections were found to be riddled with fraud. And most of it was perpetrated by the likes of Acorn and other democrat operatives. Dead people and cartoon characters voted for many liberals, but for NO republicans!! Strange, no?? Al Franken "won" his senate seat by 300 votes and there were a couple counties that were proved to have been tampered with or even dismissed (who'd have gone extremely for the republican). Strange, no???? Fricken wanker lemmings! Wake up!!

[sandiegopete]

I have yet to hear or read of the Tea Party supporting the right of citizens to vote. Instead, all the Tea Party does is work to make it harder for citizens to vote. Would not be surprised to see them attempt to impose a fee for voting. Such a fee would be to off-set the costs of running an election.

The Tea Party does not like the idea of the country being a democracy. In every discussion with the Tea Party I hear endless argument that the United States is not intended to be a democracy but a republic and the elected representatives should be elected by a small group of elites. The Tea Party supports returning the selection of U.S. Senators to the politicians of each state,with no popular vote allowed.

In any event, thanks to the Tea Party majority on the Supreme Court the importance of the individual vote is becoming ever more marginalized. The Supreme Court has ratified corruption in our government by removing all controls on money flowing to elected officials. The Court effectively said an individual can buy as many politicians as his, her or its money permits. With the demise of labor unions the only individuals with the money to buy politicians are corporations and the very wealthy.

So, in their battle against the non-wealthy the wealthy have already won the country. Bad news for the non-wealthy but the politicians don't care about the non-wealthy because the non-wealthy cannot provide the kind of money the wealthy can.

Within 20 years we will see the population of the United States consisting of a 1% wealthy class, 30% middle class and 69% poverty class. That is because we have exported our economic base to foreign countries and are doing nothing to replace it. As a nation we no longer support domestic innovation, preferring instead to utilize foreign educated engineers.

[rightofwrong]

The U.S. is not a democracy, it is a representative republic of 50 individual states with certain rights. If the state wants to have voters show proper legitimate identification to cast their ballot, then so be it. Identification should also indicate the voter's legal right to cast said ballot. Anyone who refuses to show ID will not be counted, plain and simple. This is not a Show Me Your Papers issue. Voting is not a right, it is a privilege. The only right of vote we have in America is the right to vote a secret ballot, also known as a free vote.

[0tar2]

In this trumped up battle against "illegal voters," no one seems to demand any hard proof from the Republican party on voter fraud. Maybe that's because the percentage of illegal votes cast has been so low as to be a non-event, as the numbers will demonstrate.

However, today's demographics put the Republican party at an increasing disadvantage. The only two ways they have to overcome that disadvantage (apart, of course, from offering candidates and platforms that appeal to more voters!) is to try to buy the elections state by state (and as we know they have the bucks to do just that), and to try very hard to eliminate the Democrats' advantage by nullifying Democratic voters.

They are doing both. The greatest service we could do for our country at this point is make sure the media continue to give both vote suppression and the vote-buying plenty of air-time and column-space.

What we need to do is demand, over and over again and in the media, for proof of illegal voting -- enough proof to make it sensible to prune the voter lists... legally. And we need to emphasize the extent to which Republicans depend on cheating and money to get elected. Because it's true. The party of the right are dependent, now, on blocking votes and on money from unscrupulous members of the financial elite, from the guys who brought us derivatives, from predatory lenders, and from the notorious US Chamber of Commerce.

[davidd5063]

Yet another example of the GOP's complete disdain for the rule of law. This garbage isn't even trying to "thinly veil" it's bigotry and moral bankruptcy anymore. Disgusting.

[minniesucks]

You mean like in the 2000 election- when in Florida the mobsters from Chicago were brought in to steal the election for Gore, but were caught red-handed, so the dems turned it around by falsely accusing the repubs of the same.. and with your massive media advantage and your democrat attack machine selling this trash.. you sheep swallowed the whole line of garbage?? And BTW, how about the liberals not allowing a lot of the absentee ballots from our friggin military to be counted because of the excuse that those ballots came in just a tad late??? Are you kidding me??? Our MILITARY??? Being denied their right to have their votes counted?? By democrats!!! Because they knew the military hates you right back and would be voting republican!! How can you scumbags look in a mirror???

[stevex47]

Florida and teabirthers can't win an election without rigging it.

[minniesucks]

Nice try. Who are you, Mickey Mouse or Elvis?? Or did you vote three times this time?? Or are you the sulking Acorn election riggers?? Get a brain libs!!

[credibility2]

This ruling is ridiculous and encourages voter fraud, which is what the liberals don't seem to mind, since those likely to commit voter fraud tend to be one of their constituents.

[byrdh5n1]

Voter fraud by falsely voting as someone else is quite nearly unheard ot.... moe-ron..... A handfull of cases in a decade - throughout the whole country. Where fraud exists, it's still the old fashioned kind: pre-stuffing ballot boxes. You should zip up: Your agenda is showing....

[rightbehind]

Typical republican fear mongering. In texas when ACORN was still registering voters they found less than 50 cases of voter fraud out of millions of votes. Most all of the 50 had to do with volunteer signatures missing on ballot envelopes. The republican party has become so pathetic.

[raymailhot]

Voting illegally shouldn't be an option!

At some point America is required to protect themselves against interests that will stoop to voting fraud. It has been well documented for the last 200 years that there are many ways to stuff the ballot. We need to be smart and legal about this, but it should happen.

The sooner the better!

[thechooch1]

raymailhot that windmill you are after isn't there. How about documenting "it ahs been well documented for the last 20 years". It is a smoke screen.

[retiredgustav]

The republicans use the Supreme court to stuff their ballot boxes.

[MungoWhiteman]

Florida is messed up.