For Immediate Release:
November 7, 2007
Contact:
Susan Lehman, 917–998–6318
Justice Department Witholds Approval of Revised Florida Voter Registration Law, Demands Further Justification From State
Following comments from the Brennan Center for Justice, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) demanded that the State of Florida justify a newly revised voter registration law.
Voting Section Chief John Tanner took the action based on requirements
in the Voting Rights Act that subject new voting laws in certain states
to approval (or “preclearance”) from the Civil Rights Division before
they can be put into effect.
Last month, the Brennan Center
asked the DOJ to reject the law because the new provisions could force
organizations to cease or restrict their voter registration drives – an
action which would disproportionately affect black, Hispanic, and
Spanish-speaking voters. In its letter to the DOJ,
the Brennan Center argued that because the revised law would unduly
harm Florida’s minority community, it should not be precleared by the
DOJ. Last week, the DOJ asked for further information on the effect of
the revised law on minority voters in the counties covered by the
federal law. Such requests for further information are atypical and
suggest serious scrutiny of the revised law.
“We’re pleased the
Justice Department has asked the state for more evidence that the law
will comply with the Voting Rights Act,” said Renée Paradis, Counsel in
the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program. “In an election year, it is
especially important to make sure that Florida’s voting laws do not
unduly restrict the ability of eligible voters to participate in
elections.”
In 2006, Florida passed a law that restricted the
ability of groups to conduct voter registration drives. On behalf of
the League of Women Voters of Florida and other groups, the Brennan
Center and co-counsel successfully challenged the law’s constitutionality. The Florida state legislature then went back and revised the law with some slight changes.
In
recent years, the DOJ’s Voting Rights Section has been criticized for
what some perceive as politicized preclearance decisions. For instance,
in 2005, the first version of the Georgia voter ID bill was precleared
despite the recommendation of a majority of the Voting Rights staff who
worked on it, who found the law’s strict requirements would have a
clear retrogressive effect on the rights of black voters. That version
was later found unconstitutional by both state and federal courts.