Six congressional Democrats are calling for a federal investigation into a 2011 Florida voting law following a Palm Beach Post report that suggested Republicans intended to suppress Democratic turnout with the new rules. The multi-pronged law, H.B. 1355, put restrictions on third-party registration groups that were so burdensome they were ultimately struck down by a federal court. It also reduced early voting from 14 to eight days, ending voting on the Sunday before Election Day, when many minority voters participated in Souls to the Polls events in 2008.
Democrats including Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz are asking for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to hold a hearing on the law on the grounds that it may have intentionally limited minority, seniors’, and college students’ access to the polls.
… The early voting restrictions, combined with record-length ballots, led to long lines across Florida for the duration of early voting and on Election Day, inspiring thousands to sign a petitioncalling for Governor Rick Scott to expand early voting.
According to the Palm Beach Post report, former Republican Governor Charlie Crist was approached during his term in office about shrinking early voting “in an effort to suppress Democratic turnout.”
Full Article: Florida Democrats call for federal probe into voting law — MSNBC.