State moves to block voter-registration group
State officials are considering ways to stop a Washington nonprofit from sending any more registration forms to voters.
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times
By their own estimate, officials with a Washington nonprofit have registered 200,000 voters in Florida the past eight years.
This year, the same group, the Voter Participation Center, has mailed another 420,000 registration forms to residents hoping to enlist more.
But state officials are considering ways to stop the center from sending any more registration forms, which the state calls confusing.
“We have contacted the organization, expressed our very serious concern that they are misleading voters, offered to provide them the complaints sent to the department about their mailings, and asked that they make a concerted effort to improve their lists so that only eligible voters who aren’t registered are being contacted,” Chris Cate, a spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office said in an email to the Times.
The objections come as the state has made other moves to block greater access to the ballot box.
State officials are currently locked in a legal battle with the federal government over purging non-U.S. citizens from voter rolls. The state sued the federal government to gain access to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security database that could help officials spot non-U.S. citizens. The U.S. Department of Justice subsequently sued the state alleging that its purge of voters is illegal. Meanwhile, under Gov. Rick Scott and a Republican-controlled Legislature, early voting has been curtailed and more restrictions have been imposed on voter registration drives.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/26/2869358/state-moves-to-block-voter-registration.html#storylink=cpy
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