Elections supervisors in key Florida counties refuse to implement new (voter suppression) law

[seafan]

Take THAT, radical Rick Scott and your Jim Crow Legislature.


Marc Caputo at the St. Petersburg Times reports:

May 27, 2011

TALLAHASSEE — The elections supervisor in Rick Scott's home county refuses to recognize a new law the governor signed out of concerns that the U.S. Department of Justice hasn't decided whether it violates a law protecting minority voters.

In a letter to the state's elections division, Collier County Elections Supervisor Jennifer Edwards pointed out that her county is one of five in Florida that needs Justice Department pre-approval "or pre-clearance" under the 1965 Voting Rights Act before it makes any voting changes.

"Since assuming office in 2000, it has been my practice to meticulously comply with the requirements," she wrote last Friday. "The purpose of this letter is to inform you that due to our 'covered' status, I will not implement any changes resulting from the Governor's signing of CS/CS/HB 1355 until we receive notification that the bill has been precleared by the U.S. Department of Justice."

.....

The new law cracks down on third-party voter-registration groups activities, makes Election Day polling-precinct changes tougher for voters and reduces the number of days early voting is available.

Republicans say the law is designed to crack down on fraud and stop groups like the now-defunct ACORN from conducting massive controversial voter-registration drives.

.....

These ba$tard$ never quit.



Elections supervisors from four additional Florida counties — Hillsborough, Monroe, Hendry and Hardee — have joined Edwards in refusal to implement Rick Scott's new law.


This is the path the remaining 62 county elections supervisors must also take, to protect the public's voting rights, because Rick Scott and the GOP-controlled Legislature are intent on stealing them away from us.