Editorials: Governor Rick Scott wants his name off bad election law | St. Petersburg Times

So the governor wants his name off a lawsuit filed over Florida's cynical new elections law. Can you blame him?

Gov. Rick Scott — already sued more times than your average crooked contractor — is named in a suit contesting a new law that brings controversial changes in how we vote. How controversial? His office got thousands of e-mails while the bill awaited his signature, most urging him to reject something so fundamentally wrong.

The bill's supporters kept saying, honest, it's all about stopping our terrible problem of voter fraud. Except we don't have a terrible problem of voter fraud. And their specifics were beyond scarce. What the new law will do is make it harder for some citizens — minorities in particular — to vote. How many years would that set Florida back?

Florida: House Democrats ask Justice Department to reject new Florida elections law | Post on Politics

House Democratic leaders Tuesday asked the U.S. Justice Department to deny Secretary of State Kurt Browning’s request for approval of the state’s new elections law, which the Legislature’s ruling Republicans said is aimed at blunting the threat of voter fraud but which Democrats say is intended to discourage poor and minority voters from going to the polls.

Reps. Ron Saunders of Key West and Perry Thurston of Plantation cited the legislation’s (CS/HB 1355) shortening of the number of days available for early voting, penalties that could be imposed on voter registration groups, and new restrictions on changing voter registration at the polls as grounds for the Justice Department to reject the state’s request for needed preclearance in five counties under the federal Voting Rights Act.

The ACLU of Florida, the national ACLU, and Project Vote, a Washington, D.C., voters’ rights organization, sued earlier this mont in Miami federal court to stop statewide implementation of the law until Justice Department approval is obtained for the five counties.

Florida: Florida seeks Justice Department preclearance for new elections law | Post on Politics

The U.S. Justice Department was asked by Florida officials Wednesday to approve the state’s sweeping new elections law for five counties that need such preclearance under the federal Voting Rights Act.

Secretary of State Kurt Browning submitted documents detailing law changes under CS/HB 1355, which Gov. Rick Scott signed into law May 18 over opposition from legislative Democrats, the League of Women Voters, NAACP and other organizations.

Critics of the law said it is designed to blunt Democratic turnout and weaken voter registration efforts in advance of the 2012 elections.

Florida: ACLU, voting rights group sue to stop implementation of new Florida elections law | Palm Beach Post

The Florida ACLU and a Washington-based voting rights group filed a lawsuit Friday asking a federal court to halt statewide implementation of a new voting law until federal officials sign off.

The groups filed the lawsuit against Gov. Rick Scott and his administration in federal court in Miami on behalf of two Democratic state lawmakers and nine voters in five counties that require U.S. Department of Justice approval of changes to elections laws. For federal approval, the state must prove the laws will not result in voter discrimination.

Florida: More details of lawsuit challenging Scott, Browning on election rules overhaul | Florida Independent

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and Project Vote, a national voting rights group, filed suit in federal court Friday to challenge the implementation of Florida’s controversial new election law.

The case is being brought on behalf of nine voters in the Florida counties covered under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, including two state lawmakers, against Gov. Rick Scott and Secretary of State Kurt Browning, the state’s top elections official. It asks a three-judge panel to block implementation of the law until it has been cleared by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Florida: New Florida Election Law Draws Criticism | WJXT Jacksonville

Read HB 1355 – Florida’s Omnibus Elections Bill

On the heels of a historic Jacksonville mayoral election with a narrow margin of victory, Gov. Rick Scott signed a major revision to Florida’s election laws. After the law goes into effect July 1, there will be fewer early-voting days and it will be more difficult for a voter to change his or her address.

The law has drawn criticism from across the state and nation.

“This new law is going to make it very difficult for us to engage eligible voters in our Democratic process,” said Katherine Carithers, president of the Jacksonville chapter of the League of Women Voters.

Florida: Flexibility in early voting means possibly less hours to vote – Barely True | PolitiFact Florida/St. Petersburg Times

Florida Governor Rick Scott’s elections chief is defending changes to election law that shrink the number of days for early voting by arguing that polling places will be open the same number of hours they are now. Yes, fewer days, Secretary of State Kurt Browning wrote in a May 23, 2011, guest column in the St. Petersburg Times. But longer hours on those days.

HB 1355, which Scott signed into law May 19, cuts the number of days of early voting from 14 to 8, makes it harder for third-party voter registration groups to register prospective voters and requires voters who change their address from one county to another on the day of an election to cast a provisional ballot, which would then be reviewed by the county canvassing board.

Editorials: Kurt Browning: Combating fraud while preserving access to the polls | Palm Beach Post

One of my most important responsibilities as your secretary of state is preserving the integrity of the voting process in Florida while increasing access to the ballot box. The right to vote is one of the most obvious symbols of our nation’s freedom. Americans must have confidence in the electoral process we use to choose our local, state and national leaders.

Legislators also take this responsibility seriously, and sent an important reform bill to Gov. Scott, who signed it Thursday afternoon. The bill makes early voting more accessible, by expanding the number of hours that election supervisors can open early voting sites from just eight hours per day to 12.