Florida: Day Three of redistricting: Window into reality and the defense of secret deals as ‘entirely proper’ | Miami Herald

Senate President Don Gaetz testified under oath Wednesday that it was “entirely proper” for him to meet in secret with House Speaker Will Weatherford to reach a deal over a congressional map as part of the Legislature’s once-a-decade redistricting process. Gaetz, R-Niceville, who along with Weatherford was chairman of his chamber’s redistricting maps in 2011-12, told the court that he and Weatherford met twice and agreed to settle on the Senate’s map design for the final joint congressional map. It included a provision that boosted the number of black voters in the meandering congressional District 5, a Democrat-majority district that slices through dozens of towns to collect black voters from Jacksonville to Orlando. “It was entirely proper, it was entirely ordinary that we would meet as two committee chairs to work out differences,’’ Gaetz said during more than three hours of testimony.

Florida: Redistricting, gerrymandering trial begins | The News Herald

A high-stakes trial that could decide the future of the state’s congressional districts began Monday in Tallahassee , as a Republican political consultant testified that he didn’t influence the drawing of U.S. House lines in 2012. The testimony of Marc Reichelderfer marked the beginning of the first-ever court battle over the state’s once-a-decade redistricting process under the anti-gerrymandering Fair Districts amendments. Those constitutional standards, passed by voters in 2010, bar lawmakers from drawing lines intended to harm or favor parties or candidates when overhauling legislative and congressional districts after each U.S. Census. Over three weeks, members of the Tallahassee establishment ranging from behind-the-scenes aides and consultants like Reichelderfer to high-profile politicians like House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz are expected to answer questions about their role in redistricting as it unfolded two years ago. Weatherford and Gaetz could testify as soon as this week; former House Speaker Dean Cannon is also expected to be called to the stand during the trial.

Florida: Senate President defends political maps | Associated Press

For the second day in court, a high-ranking Republican legislator defended how the Florida Legislature drew up political maps for Congress. The redistricting trial now underway in a Tallahassee courtroom could wind up reshaping the state’s political landscape if the groups suing the state can prove the current maps violate the law. Attorneys for the Legislature have denied any wrongdoing, but if the court finds the current districts unconstitutional it could force legislators to redraw them. But so far top legislators remain adamant they have done nothing wrong even when confronted with evidence of consultants getting maps ahead of the public. Florida Senate President Don Gaetz spent several hours on the stand Wednesday. Gaetz, a Niceville Republican, was in charge of the Senate committee that oversaw redistricting in 2011 and 2012.

Florida: Orange County wins Hispanic voting rights lawsuit | Orlando Sentinel

A federal judge has sided with Orange County and rebuffed claims that elected officials had diluted Hispanic voting power in drawing its new County Commission districts, sources say. The voting rights lawsuit was filed against the county by local Hispanic residents and LatinoJustice PRLDEF, a New York City civil rights group. A county official said moments ago that the federal judge threw the case out, and sided with the county. A spokesman from LatinoJustice, John Garcia, said he’d received word from one of the group’s lead attorneys, who said “it didn’t look good.”

Florida: Faulty filter let Hillsborough County voters list unlawful addresses | The Tampa Tribune

Hillsborough County elections officials are supposed to flag any voter registration that’s submitted with a business rather than a home address, but they’ve discovered that a filter designed to help them with the process hasn’t worked for years A citizen alerted the elections office in December to 117 names he found on the voter rolls listing UPS stores as home addresses. UPS, like the U.S. Postal Service, rents secure space for mail delivery. A search afterward by the elections office added 34 names to the list, for a total of 151. “If we had known they were on there, we would have taken appropriate steps to get them off or get them in a right residential address,” Elections supervisor Craig Latimer said. It turns out the problem isn’t new; a Tampa Tribune analysis shows that 106 of those voters had been on the supervisor’s rolls at those addresses in March 2012. Latimer said his research shows many of the voters had been on the rolls since the 1990s.

Florida: Orange’s Hispanic voting rights case a duel over data | Orlando Sentinel

Despite a “wave” of Hispanics moving to Orange County, elected leaders “made it harder” for them to get elected when it redrew its political borders, plaintiffs’ attorney Juan Cartagena told a federal judge Monday at the opening of a voting-rights lawsuit. Orange County’s lead attorney countered that voters have elected Latinos to county offices in districts with fewer Hispanic voters than today — and despite what the plaintiffs want, it may be legally impossible to create a majority-Hispanic district. In the suit, local Hispanics accuse Orange leaders of diluting Latino political power. The New York City civil rights group representing them, LatinoJustice PRLDE, called its first witness, who said Hispanics are a large and cohesive enough group to have a majority district.

Florida: Scheme to intimidate Florida GOP voters results in plea deal for Seattle man | Miami Herald

A plan to get back at Florida Republicans for a 2012 purge aimed at ineligible voters backfired on a Seattle man, who now faces up to six years in prison and more than $350,000 in fines. According to a U.S. Attorney’s Office plea agreement filed Monday in Tampa’s U.S. District Court, James Webb Baker Jr., 58, sent about 200 letters a month before the 2012 presidential election to prominent Florida Republicans in an effort to intimidate them and interfere with their voting rights. When contacted by phone in Seattle, Baker referred questions to his lawyer, Tampa attorney John Fitzgibbons. “Mr. Baker regrets the events which led to these charges,” Fitzgibbons said in a statement. “He has acknowledged and accepted responsibility for his actions and we look forward to the conclusion of this matter.” Though he lives 3,000 miles away, Florida politics pulled Baker into his current legal troubles. Around October 2012, Baker had read online articles about efforts by Gov. Rick Scott and Secretary of State Ken Detzner to remove people from the official county lists of eligible voters. The stories reported that county officials were identifying registered voters whose eligibility was questioned, then sending them letters informing them they may be ineligible to vote.

Florida: Lawsuit that could change Florida elections begins | Florida Times-Union

A court fight over Florida’s political landscape kicked off Friday, as attorneys for the Republican-controlled Legislature and groups suing them clashed over the question of whether legislators intended to thwart the will of voters when they drew new districts for congressional seats in 2012.
Lawsuits were first filed two years ago. The trial is scheduled to start this month in a dispute that could ultimately change the current makeup of the state’s congressional delegation, where Republicans hold a sizable majority. In an effort to speed up the 11-day, non-jury proceedings, both sides were allowed to give their opening statements Friday. David King, an attorney representing the League of Women Voters and other groups suing the state, told Judge Terry Lewis that legislators used a “shadow process,” which allowed them to circumvent a constitutional mandate prohibiting legislators from drawing districts intended to protect incumbents or members of a certain political party.

Florida: State redistricting lawsuits get political | Tampa Tribune

It was a crisp mid-February day in the nation’s capital, but a hot topic at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee had a distinctly Sunshine State feel. A handful of Democratic political operatives, many of Florida’s congressional Democrats, and Nancy Pelosi, the House’s top Democrat from California, huddled in the offices of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during the 2012 meeting to discuss an ongoing Florida redistricting lawsuit. On the agenda was an overview of the newest version of Florida’s congressional map, which was drawn as part of a lawsuit in a Tallahassee court challenging the redistricting process. Court documents and emails that are part of the redistricting lawsuit show that the map was drawn and paid for by Democratic consultants in consultation with the Florida Democratic Party, which is no longer involved in the lawsuit.

Florida: Orange County voting rights suit: Government lawyers fail to kill Latino voting rights suit | Orlando Sentinel

A federal judge ruled against Orange County government lawyers today and allowed a lawsuit to proceed that alleges elected officials diluted Latino voting strength in its latest redistricting effort. “We’re going to trial,” said Juan Cartagena, president and general counsel of LatinoJustice PRLDEF, the civil rights group behind the lawsuit. “They can’t stop us now. They tried, and it didn’t work.” A county spokeswoman said Orange officials do not comment on pending litigation. Instead of a jury, Chief Judge Anne C. Conway will preside over the voting rights trial set for May 12.

Florida: Florida no longer part of controversial national voter data project | Miami Herald

For those following the issue of voter fraud nationwide, this fact-check by PunditFact of a claim by Fox News commentator Dick Morris is a must-read. Morris said that “probably over a million people” voted twice in the 2012 general election nationwide. PunditFact rated that False — and you can read the full report here. Morris was referring to data from a project dubbed Interstate Crosscheck run by Republican Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. As of 2013, 28 states sent voter information to Kansas where the record of each of their voters is run against the records in all the other participating states. They are matched on first name, last name, date of birth and Social Security number. Interstate Crosscheck’s own guide for states includes an important caveat that tends to get overlooked: “a significant number of apparent double votes are false positives and not double votes. Many are the result of errors — voters sign the wrong line in the poll book, election clerks scan the wrong line with a barcode scanner.”

Florida: State quits controversial voter ‘purge’ program | MSNBC

Florida has ditched a controversial GOP-backed program aimed at catching voters who are registered in multiple states, which some voting-rights advocates say can make it easier for eligible voters to be wrongly purged from the rolls. It’s the same program whose data were used for an eye-catching recent report suggesting that more than 35,000 people may have voted in North Carolina and another state in 2012—a conclusion that was quickly debunked by numerous experts. Florida’s decision to leave the Interstate Crosscheck system, created by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Republican, was first reported Friday by the Miami Herald. “The Department of State and Supervisors of Elections currently work with elections officials in other states to update registrations regarding residency, and we are always exploring options to improve the elections process,” Brittany Lesser, a spokeswoman for Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner, told msnbc in a statement. The state’s move is striking because, under Republican Gov. Rick Scott, Florida has led the way in aggressively removing voters from the rolls. A 2012 effort that aimed to find non-citizens purged numerous eligible voters, including a 91-year old World War II vet. A court recently declared the move illegal. Last month, Detzner announced that a new bid to cut voters from the rolls would be delayed until next year.

Florida: Voters are told to hold everything – yes, everything – at some polling places | Sun Sentinel

Broward and Palm Beach County voters can rest easy. Elections supervisors in the two counties say they won’t implement the restroom ban imposed by Miami-Dade County. In the state’s most populous county, voters who need to go while waiting to vote aren’t allowed to do so. The media office at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department didn’t respond to a request for information about the rule. But it’s detailed by county officials in email exchanges with a disability rights lawyer. “It’s absolutely stunning,” said Marc  Dubin director of advocacy for the Center for Independent Living of South Florida, which serves people with disabilities in Miami-Dade County. He’s a former senior trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was responsible for ADA enforcement. “It is a current policy of the Department of Elections. It’s in effect right now,” Dubin said.

Florida: Purchase of new voting equipment will be delayed, Manatee County elections chief says | Bradenton Herald

A purchase of high-tech digital voting equipment will be delayed until after the November election, an official said Wednesday. “We were concerned we would not have the equipment in time to train for a major election,” said Mike Bennett, Manatee County supervisor of elections. Over the past few weeks, discussions have been continuing with an Omaha, Neb., company that manufactures digital high-speed scanners and specialized equipment designed to accommodate the handicapped, but those negotiations have ended for now, he said. “We can do with what we’ve got,” explained Bennett.

Florida: For Miami-Dade County, a dispute over potty breaks for voters | Miami Herald

For Miami-Dade County voters who have had to wait up to seven hours on Election Day to cast their ballots, there’s an argument over what should take priority: the call to citizenship or the call of nature. Emails from a deputy elections supervisor and an assistant county attorney say Miami-Dade voters are banned from using restrooms at polling places. But the chief deputy elections supervisor pooh-poohed the notion. Number One and Number Two are fine in publicly owned voting sites, such as libraries and city halls, where bathrooms are open for anyone to use. The problem might arise when precincts are located in private buildings, which don’t have to allow public bathroom access, or in churches and other religious facilities, which are exempt from federal law requiring accessible restrooms for people with disabilities. Elections administrators have long relied on those locations to set up Miami-Dade’s more than 500 polling places.

Florida: Another year, another stalled batch of Democratic-sponsored elections bills | Orlando Sentinel

With an eye toward the fall elections, Florida Democrats are hoping to build pressure on the Republican-controlled Legislature to adopt tougher voter-protections for minorities despite a sweeping elections reform enacted last year. Florida’s voting laws have seen a major overhaul since the problem-plagued 2012 presidential election, partly thanks to court-rulings that have halted a voter “purge” review of the legality of registered voters and the about-face the Legislature took in 2013 to expand early-voting. But at the same time, the U.S. Supreme Court last summer struck down provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act which served to protect minority voters from major changes in Florida – specifically, removing the requirement that changes get “pre-cleared” by the federal Justice Department before taking effect.

Florida: State grappling to get its system of voting working correctly | Sun Sentinel

Florida’s much-maligned elections are likely to run much better in 2014, but critics see problems for 2016 that could bring a repeat of the frustrating failures that marked the last two presidential elections. “We might not see the same type of problems in 2014 [that] we saw in 2012,” said Daniel Smith, a University of Florida political science professor who’s done extensive research on the way elections are run around the country. “With respect to 2016, I think we’re going to repeat the past.” In South Florida, the people in charge of running elections are far more optimistic. Not only will voting run smoothly in this year’s August primary and November general election, said Broward Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes and Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher, but people should have a much easier time voting in the next presidential election.

Florida: Time to purge the voter purge lists | Daytona Beach News-Journal

Florida’s flawed 2012 purge of the voter rolls was struck down by a federal appeals court Wednesday. This came only days after Secretary of State Ken Detzner delayed yet another planned purge of the voter lists. With any luck, Florida elections officials will respond by quietly giving up on the whole, flawed exercise. The rationale behind the past purge lists and the planned purge for this year was that there are a large number of ineligible noncitizens out there somehow registering and voting. Something still unproven. Just look at how the 2012 search for illegal voters proceeded here. That first purge list included 15 possible noncitizens out of 319,207 Volusia registered voters. Except that one voter identified as an noncitizen was a 76-year-old Ormond Beach woman who was born in Pennsylvania and had voted in every presidential election since 1956. Another was a soldier serving in Afghanistan.

Florida: Online Voter Registration Likely Years Away After Florida Senate Bill Dies | WFSU

At the same time Florida election supervisors are looking at how to bring online voter registration to the state, the chance of legislative action on the issue went from tiny to nonexistent this week. The senator pushing online registration withdrew his bill amidst doubts it could pass the full Legislature. Ask the question “Should Florida voters be able to register online?” and you’ll get different answers from different people. Sen. Jeff Clemens (D-Lake Worth) says yes. “With 19 other states already doing this, we’re already behind the ball,” he told the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee Monday. But incoming Senate President and Orlando Republican Andy Gardiner, says not yet. “It may be a bill that’s just not ready for prime time,” he said, referring to Clemens’ bill.

Florida: Court rules Florida voter purge illegal, but will it stop GOP voting tweaks? | Christian Science Monitor

A panel for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on Tuesday deemed illegal a 2012 attempt by Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) to purge the state’s voter rolls of noncitizens and other ineligible voters. The ruling, which the justices said was intended to thwart future questionable roll purges, comes amid a new wave of pitched battles between Republicans who say they want to make voting fairer by curbing voting-booth shenanigans and Democrats who say adding restrictions to voting is a blatant attempt to keep poor people and blacks – many of whom are Democrats – from casting ballots. Since the US Supreme Court unshackled most Southern states from the preclearance provision of the Voting Rights Act last year, Republican-led legislatures have launched efforts to create what they say are more uniform election systems to ensure that each vote is equal. Republicans in Ohio and Wisconsin have curbed weekend voting, which critics say would most affect blacks who often carpooled to polling places from church on Sunday. In North Carolina, Republicans have stiffened early-voting and registration rules.

Florida: Online voter registration appears dead in Florida this session | Naples Daily News

Legislation that would create a process for registering to vote online got its “day in court” Monday, but isn’t going anywhere this legislative session. A bill sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, would require the Department of State to set up a website that would allow for online registration, which is in 13 states, by July 2015. Because the Florida House has decided it won’t pass any voting-related legislation this session, it means the Senate bill doesn’t have a companion in that chamber or a chance of passing. “This bill is not moving in the House, which is no big surprise to anyone,” said state Sen. Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, chairman of the Ethics and Elections Committee.

Florida: State halts purge of noncitizens from voter rolls | Tampa Bay Times

Gov. Rick Scott’s chief elections official is suspending a politically charged election-year plan to purge noncitizens from Florida’s voter rolls, citing changes to a federal database used to verify citizenship. The about-face Thursday by Secretary of State Ken Detzner resolves a standoff with county elections supervisors, who resisted the purge and were suspicious of its timing. It also had given rise to Democratic charges of voter suppression aimed at minorities, including Hispanics crucial to Scott’s re-election hopes. Detzner told supervisors in a memo that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is redesigning its SAVE database, and it won’t be finished until 2015, so purging efforts, known as Project Integrity, should not proceed. “I have decided to postpone implementing Project Integrity until the federal SAVE program Phase Two is completed,” Detzner wrote.

Florida: Pinellas County now ground zero in Florida’s fight over voting | Tampa Bay Times

Florida’s new battleground over voting is the unlikeliest of places: a cozy branch library in Pinellas Park. It’s one of five remote locations where Pinellas voters put absentee ballots in locked boxes under the watchful eyes of poll workers. Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark has used libraries and tax collectors’ offices as dropoff sites in the past three election cycles as a way to encourage people to vote absentee and avoid the possibility of long lines at early voting locations. Clark’s dropoff sites have become symbols of her emphasis on voting by mail or absentee over all other forms of voting. Her three early voting sites in the 2012 election were by far the fewest of any large county in Florida.

Florida: Nelson tells state Democrats to push election reform | Tampa Tribune

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson urged House Democrats to do whatever it takes to make sure proposed election reform measures pass during the 2014 legislative session. “(House Democrats should) use every parliamentary mechanism at their disposal to try to fulfill the American dream, which is the right to vote, to be able to cast that vote and have the confidence to know that when you count that vote it is going be counted as you intended,” he said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon. Nelson, an Orlando-area Democrat, met with state lawmakers Wednesday to discuss election reform measures. He spent about 15 minute talking with House Democrats before heading over the Senate to speak with Senate Democrats.

Florida: State’s new estimated cost for special elections: $2.1 million and growing | Naples Daily News

The state’s total cost for special elections has increased from $500,000 to $2.1 million, according to state budget staff. When a special election is needed, local election officials pick up the initial cost. After a verification process, the state is required to reimburse local supervisors of elections for the cost needed to conduct those elections. When the Department of State made its initial budget request in January, it thought $500,000 would be enough to cover the tab. It’s the same number requested in Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed budget. The House’s proposed budget has requested $2.1 million in already needed reimbursements, while the Senate wants $2.6 million for any potential future special elections.

Florida: Orange County’s Hispanic voting rights fight moves to court | Orlando Sentinel

The Hispanic community’s struggle to gain political power in Orange County in recent years moves to a federal courtroom this week. For the first time since a voting rights lawsuit was filed in 2012, both sides will meet Thursday before Chief Judge Anne C. Conway. The case pits area Latino residents and a national civil rights group against elected leaders who created political boundaries that plaintiffs claim “illegally dilutes the voting rights of Latinos in Orange County.” Meanwhile, local Republicans on the County Commission have signaled they may be open to a potential solution that would expand the county’s current lineup of six districts to eight, possibly giving Hispanics a better shot to win a seat.

Florida: State takes its time with lists of suspected ineligible voters | The News-Press

Seven months after Gov. Rick Scott announced a new purge of Florida’s voting rolls, county supervisors of elections are still waiting for the state to provide them with lists of suspected ineligible voters. The purge isn’t on hold, the state just isn’t in a hurry. “We do not have a set timeline to start the proposed process,” Florida Department of State spokeswoman Brittany Lesser said Friday. Meanwhile, midterm elections and Scott’s bid for a second term approach. It’s too late for such a purge to affect Southwest Florida’s special election to fill Trey Radel’s congressional seat. Radel resigned Jan. 27 after pleading guilty to cocaine possession and serving a stint in rehab. Ineligible voters would have to be removed by 90 days before a federal election, according to federal law.

Florida: Leon County Commission OKs money to buy new voting machines | Tallahassee Democrat

At Tuesday’s County Commission meeting, a proposal to fund $1.98 million for new voting machines pitted Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho and two commissioners on opposite ends. A brief heated exchange erupted between Sancho and Commissioner Bryan Desloge, who expressed strong hesitance to approve a no-bid vendor contract for 250 new hybrid voting machines that can be independently used by all voters, including those with varying disabilities. Erring on the side of transparency, Desloge and Commissioner John Dailey favored the county issue a request for proposals. Sancho explained only one company in the nation manufactures a modern voting machine to meet the needs of all voters, instead of using separate devices. Sancho said a request for proposals would result in the same company being picked and delay having devices in hand by November’s election.

Florida: First Step To Online Voter Registration In Florida, Bill Moves Forward | Daily Business Review

A Senate committee moved forward with a bill that would allow online voter registration in Florida and put new restrictions on drop-off locations for absentee ballots. The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee unanimously approved introducing the measure (SPB 7068), which will still have to return to the panel for another vote. Because of that, Democrats backed away from offering amendments that could still become flashpoints in the debate over the measure. Much of the controversy over the provisions in the bill focused on language that would allow elections supervisors to provide secure boxes to receive absentee ballots, but only at early-voting locations and supervisor of elections’ offices.

Florida: Voting bill would allow on-line registration; restrict absentee drop-off locations | Palm Beach Post

A Florida Senate committee Monday moved forward with a bill that would make a few changes in Florida election law, including putting new restrictions on drop-off locations for absentee ballots and allowing online voter registration in the state. The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee unanimously approved introducing the measure (SPB 7068), which will still have to return to the panel for another vote. Because of that, Democrats backed away from offering amendments that could still become flash points in the debate over the measure. Much of the controversy over the provisions in the bill focused on language that would allow elections supervisors to provide secure boxes to receive absentee ballots, but only at early-voting locations and supervisor of elections’ offices.