The Florida House on Tuesday voted – once again – to overhaul the state’s elections law, this time by partly undoing changes from 2011 that were blamed for confusion and long lines at the polls in the last election. On the first day of the annual legislative session, House members approved 118-1 a bill (HB 7013) that increases the permitted days of early voting from eight to 14. It allows early-voting polling places at more kinds of sites, like fairgrounds, civic centers and convention centers. And it sets a 75-word limit on proposed initial ballot summaries to constitutional amendments. The bill also restores the possibility of early voting on the Sunday before Election Day, when blacks often vote after church in a tradition known as “souls to the polls.”
The perception of the state’s voting process is a sore spot for many Floridians. Desiline Victor became a symbol of early voting obstacles when the 102-year-old was forced to wait three hours on line to vote in Miami-Dade County in 2012. President Barack Obama later invited her to his State of the Union address.
And no matter their political leaning, Florida residents still smart over their state’s reputation from 2000, made famous by hanging chads, butterfly ballots and an aborted presidential-election recount.
Full Article: Fla. House passes election overhaul bill | HeraldTribune.com.