Yesterday Maine voters exercised their fundamental right with all of the rights they have come to depend on. They could register at the polls, enroll in a party, and cast their ballot even if they forgot their wallet at home.
I am so proud to be part of an organization that helped protect voter access and to live in a state that understands government's role should be to help assist and support citizens' ability to get to the ballotbox.
In contrast, check out two recent clips from the Daily Show (the second here) discussing Florida Governor Rick Scott's new law requiring new voters to submit their completed voter registration forms within 48 hours of filling them out. Even one minute over the deadline and the forms become void. The law dramatically impacts the ability of organizations like our voting rights allies - League of Women Voters - to register new voters. The law has reportedly already caused a 20% decrease in new voter registration and is layered on top of other new barriers to voting. That despite no evidence that it's needed. According to the Daily Show interview with Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall, even those running elections in Florida don't support the law. McFall states: "The law doesn't make any sense. I don't see fraud in voter registration. It just isn't happening."
Governor Scott has also ordered the purge of as many as 182,000 suspected non-citizens from Florida's voter rolls earlier this year, triggering a legal battle between the state and the U.S. Department of Justice who has determined that the purge violates federal voter-suppression laws.
I hope that as evidence mounts about the discriminatory impact and lack of need for the recent wave of voter suppression laws, the tide will turn and states (including ours) will, instead, look at ways to increase voter enrollment and participation.
June 13, 2012 - 5:20pm
