by Brandon Larrabee
The News Service of Florida
Republicans pushed a controversial elections bill through the Legislature on Thursday after a sharp, partisan clash that in some ways served as the first battle of the 2012 elections.
The majority party swatted away the objections of Democrats in the Senate and a stream of amendments in the House, securing a party-line, 77-38 vote to pass the bill in the House hours after the upper chamber approved it 25-13, with Sens. Paula Dockery (R-Lakeland) and Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey) joining Democrats in opposition.
The measure generally is meant to crack down on voter fraud. Opponents say it simply makes it harder to vote.
The twin votes on the measure (HB 1355) set off the next stage of the struggle over the bill, which now heads to Gov. Rick Scott.
Assuming Scott signs the measure, it will likely have to be pre-cleared by the U.S. Department of Justice under the Voting Rights Act because of Florida’s history of racial discrimination.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) quickly called on Scott to veto the measure. He wrote that he would ask the Justice Department to investigate.
“There are just too many questions about whether this measure would disenfranchise an untold number of Floridians,” Nelson wrote in a letter to Scott. “I remain convinced it is bad for our democratic process.”
Republicans said a crackdown on potential avenues for election fraud is badly needed here, noting ominously that the Florida code contains loopholes for what the House sponsor called “mischief”—- and a way to provide flexibility for local officials and bring order to the state’s constitutional amendment process.
“Every voter deserves to have their votes counted, and every candidate deserves to have an accurate counting of those votes,” said Sen. Alan Hays (R-Umatilla).
But Democrats slammed the measure as an attack on Florida voters aimed at shaving days off of early voting, blocking voters’ access to the constitution through citizen initiatives and discouraging key portions of President Barack Obama’s 2008 electoral coalition from returning to the polls next year.
“I have to wonder whether the only problem that can be found with our electoral process is that maybe some people didn’t like the outcome of our last president election, or the citizens’ initiatives that have passed over the years,” said Sen. Nan Rich (D-Weston).
In the House, Democrats focused their fire on provisions they say will make it harder for college students to vote.
The bill bars anyone moving from one county to another from changing their address at the polls, instead calling for the person to cast a provisional ballot, a type of vote that is often thrown out and advocates say will likely cause many moving voters to have their voices choked
off.
“All this is aimed to do is frustrate the votes of college students,” said Rep. Richard Steinberg (D-Miami Beach).
Powerless to stop the measure, the minority party also tried to force Republicans into uncomfortable votes on amendments, including one that would require all provisional ballots to be counted before the results of an election are certified. Republicans said the amendment, defeated on an 80-38 vote, would be “unfair” to the state’s elections supervisors.
“This is absolutely absurd,” fumed Rep. Franklin Sands (D-Weston). “We should count every single vote for every single American who’s taken the time to come out and vote.”
Opponents also decried the steps Republicans took to move the massive proposal through the Legislature.