U.S. District Court Upholds Florida Initiative Telling Legislature that Redistricting Must be Non-Partisan

From Ballot Access News:
http://www.ballot-access.org/2011/09/09/u-s-district-court-upholds-florida-initiative-telling-legislature-that-redistricting-must-be-non-partisan/

On September 9, a U.S. District Court upheld Florida’s law, passed by the voters in November 2010, that congressional and legislative redistricting must not favor or disfavor any particular party. The case is Diaz-Balart v Browning, southern district, 10-23968-civ-Ungaro.

The case had been filed by a Republican state legislator and a Democratic member of the U.S. House, Corrine Brown. They had argued that Article One of the U.S. Constitution requires that only state legislatures can pass election laws. The opinion points out that the Florida initiative, amendment 6, does not take redistricting power away from the legislature. It merely sets conditions on how the legislature must carry out redistricting. The plaintiffs say they will appeal.

Here’s is the 22-page opinion:
http://www.aclufl.org/pdfs/2011-09-09-ACLUFairDistrictsOrder.pdf

Florida Rep. Perry E. Thurston Jr., D-Plantation on FLORIDA’S VOTE SUPPRESSION ACT

From Florida Progressive Coalition Blog:
http://quinnell.us/sspb/?p=13025 

I am angered and disappointed by Gov. Rick Scott‘s recent maneuvers to suppress the vote in our community. The Republican governor recently directed Florida’s secretary of state to deploy a back-door attempt to thwart the U.S. Department of Justice from enforcing the Voting Rights Act as it applies to Floridians. We should all be outraged.

At Scott’s request, the state has withdrawn a request for pre-clearance of Florida’s election changes from review by the Department of Justice and, instead, filed a request for review with the U.S. District Court. While this is allowed under the law, it is a surprising and extremely unusual action for the state to take.

A determination by the Justice Department was expected within the next few days, as the 60-day review period began on June 8. The move to district court will extend the time before a final determination is made and leave Floridians in a state of uncertainty for a longer period of time. Floridians have a right to know how their next election will be conducted and what they must do to make their votes count.

This move will also cost Florida more for the same review. Review by the Department of Justice has a minimal cost associated with the use of staff to prepare documents for submission, but has no inherent ongoing expense. The department describes the administrative review process as “an expeditious, cost-effective alternative to the Section 5 declaratory judgment process.” Review before the district court requires a hearing before a three-judge panel and the submission of specially prepared legal documents at a higher cost and a use of more staff time and effort.

I am extremely disappointed by the decision to waste the time and money of Florida’s taxpayers in an effort to avoid a final determination on the changes to election procedures. Political maneuvering of this kind merely undermines the public’s faith in their government and is a dangerous course to take when it comes to something as precious as the people’s right to vote.

Florida Rep. Perry E. Thurston Jr., D-Plantation, represents House District 93.

SUPPRESSING THE VOTE: Orlando Weekly

Orlando Weekly looks at restrictive new vote suppressing laws across the country with special mention of four provisions of Florida’s HB 1355 which have just been referred to a three-judge federal panel for consideration. Those provisions are:

• cuts in half the time allowed for early voting (from 14 to eight days, with no Sunday voting allowed)
• mandates provisional ballots for would-be voters who switch counties prior to an election
• requires third-parties who wish to register voters to register with the state and imposes heavy fines if applications are not returned within 48 hours
• restricts the validity of a voter’s signature on initiative petitions from four years to two

Florida already requires photo ID in order to cast a ballot.

Disenfranchised in the Sunshine State

“We remain hopeful that the federal court will give these sections of HB 1355 a very close look, as we believe that these sections unfairly reduce opportunities for registration and voting and will have a particularly negative impact on Florida’s minority voters,” LWVF First Vice President Pam Goodman said in a statement.

There is cause for concern. Democrats fear that one of the law’s already approved sticking points – that voters must present photo identification like a driver’s license at polling places – carries with it the stigma of Jim Crow laws, which pushed literacy tests and poll taxes upon minorities in the South. Also, the requirement that the address on that license be current could cause trouble for traditionally more mobile minority populations and for students – both of which tend to vote for Democrats – and the elderly who are less likely to drive.

“It is increasingly apparent that there are forces within the state government that will try any means possible to suppress the minority vote,” the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida said in a statement. The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit against the controversial portions of the law in June and a subsequent federal complaint just last week. “As Jesse Jackson has stated, we fight wars for democracy abroad and then declare war on democracy at home.”

See the rest of the article here: http://orlandoweekly.com/news/suppressing-the-vote-1.1196228

ACLU, PROJECT VOTE FILE TO JOIN FEDERAL COURT REVIEW OF VOTER SUPPRESSION ACT

http://aclufl.org/news_events/?action=viewRelease&emailAlertID=3944

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

MIAMI – The American Civil Liberties Union, together with Project Vote, today filed a Motion to Intervene in the United States District Court’s review of the Voter Suppression Act (formerly House Bill 1355) which, if approved, will make it harder for Floridians to register to vote, harder to vote and harder to have that vote counted.

Governor Rick Scott and Secretary of State Kurt Browning withdrew the most discriminatory and regressive portions of the Voter Suppression Act from review by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Voting Rights Act. With just days remaining before a decision deadline, the state chose instead to initiate a legal review of the provisions by the US District Court in the District of Columbia – a process which will take longer, cost more and continue the confusion, uncertainty and lack of uniformity of Florida’s voting laws.

“We’ve strongly objected to these voter suppression schemes from the beginning,” said Howard Simon, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida. “After the state’s latest round of legal hide-and-seek, we’re asking the court to allow us to join the case on behalf of impacted Floridians who will see the right to cast their vote rolled back by these regressive and unnecessary changes to Florida’s voting laws.”

The four provisions of the Voter Suppression Act subject to review by the Court are:

• Limiting access to early voting by decreasing the number of early voting days including a new outright ban on early voting the Sunday before an election
• A new requirement that voters changing their address between counties on Election Day must use provisional ballots which are easier to challenge and only counted about half the time
• Strict new rules on “third party” voter registration groups including fines, registration requirements and time limits on non-partisan civic groups conducting voter registration efforts
• Restricting access to amending the Constitution by cutting by 50% the time a citizen’s signature is considered valid on an initiative petition

As the DOJ would have done, the District Court will determine whether the voter suppression provisions are allowed under the Voting Rights Act which protects racial and language minority voters in five Florida Counties (Hillsborough, Collier, Monroe, Hendry and Hardy) known as covered jurisdictions.

By taking the issue to the District Court, the State of Florida has named the United States and Attorney General Eric Holder as defendants. The ACLU and Project Vote are asking the Court to join a group of racial and language minority voters in the covered jurisdictions as well as Project Vote and its affiliate Voting for America as additional defendants. The parties in the request include State Senator Arthenia Joyner, State Representative Janet Cruz, Monroe County Supervisor of Elections Harry Sawyer, Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho, Project Vote and Voting for America.

“Project Vote and Voting for America are dedicated to bringing voter registration opportunities to minority communities,” added Estelle Rogers, Director of Advocacy for Project Vote. “We are uniquely positioned to tell the court just how damaging this law will be to those efforts.”

The ACLU and Project Vote have a pending request in the United States District Court in Miami for an injunction to block implementation of the new law until it is approved under the Voting Rights Act. The ACLU and Project Vote sought the injunction because the Secretary of State has maintained that the voter suppression provisions of the new law are already in effect in the non-covered jurisdictions (62 of Florida’s 67 Counties) – effectively creating two sets of election laws.

“The Governor and Secretary of State have created a new, confusing and bizarre web of laws for Florida with one set of rules if you live in Pinellas County and a different set if you live on the other side of the bridge in Hillsborough, for example.” Simon said. “It’s bizarre that our state’s highest officials not only find this acceptable but are willing to spend more money to keep it in place longer. It’s almost as if they want voters to be confused and not vote.”

Like the DOJ, the District Court may only review the submitted provisions for their compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act – not their merits overall. The DOJ already approved many of the uncontested provisions of the Voter Suppression Act as not violating the Voting Rights Act. Any appeal of the findings by the District Court may be appealed directly to the Supreme Court of the United States.

“The costly legal course the Governor and Secretary of State have chosen proves without question that they will do anything – spend anything – to stack the deck in upcoming elections,” Simon said.

A copy of the motion to intervene is available here:
http://www.aclufl.org/pdfs/2011-08-25-ACLUMotiontoInterveneFLHolder.pdf

A copy of the documents submitted for filing today is here:
http://www.aclufl.org/pdfs/2011-08-25-ACLUInterventionSupportMemo.pdf

http://www.aclufl.org/pdfs/2011-08-25-ACLUProposedAnswer.pdf

http://www.aclufl.org/pdfs/2011-08-25-ACLUProposedInterventionOrder.pdf

STATEMENTS FROM POTENTIAL INTERVENING DEFENDANTS:

Statement from Monroe County Supervisor of Elections, Harry Sawyer:

“Several of the election changes adopted by the Legislature will limit voter turnout and threaten the right of voters, including African-Americans in Monroe County and other ethnic and language minority voters.

“Monroe County has 5 early voting sites, one of which is in an African-American neighborhood. In the 2008 general election, 27 percent of Keys voters voted early, and nearly 8 percent of Keys registered voters voted early in the November 2010 general election. Limiting early voting options is a dangerous path which will only make it more difficult to vote.

“If this law is approved and people moving to Monroe are required to use a provisional ballot, it has the potential to disenfranchise many voters in our community.”

Statement from Representative Janet Cruz (Tampa):

“Florida’s effort to suppress the vote for 2012 and beyond needs this complete review and we hope that the federal court will see what we see – that the provisions under review hurt racial and language minorities in Hillsborough County and across Florida.”

Statement from Leon County Supervisor of Elections, Ion Sancho:

”The new voting legislation passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor is a thinly veiled effort to deny legitimate voters their right to vote. Restrictions to early voting, requiring more voters to vote by provisional ballots, and shutting down 3rd party voter registration drives will have a retrogressive impact on all of Florida’s voters without providing any benefit whatsoever – including reducing fraudulent voting.”

Statement from Senator Arthenia Joyner (Tampa):

“In six weeks this ill law was conceived, drafted behind closed doors, jammed through the Legislature, signed by the Governor and is being rushed to a speedy and illegal implementation. Floridians are entitled, by law, to have these changes reviewed before they are used to deny people the right to vote.”

Statement from Former Senator Helen Gordon Davis (Tampa):

“Public officials should be encouraging voting and making voting more accessible. I am proud to be part of this lawsuit that challenges the actions of the Governor and the Legislature that make voting more difficult, particularly for working people and minorities in our community, when they should be doing the exact opposite.”

Statement from Reverend and former Tampa City Councilman, Thomas Scott:

“The new, outright ban on early voting the Sunday before Election Day is an obvious attempt to shut down ‘Souls to the Polls,’ the effective, church-based voter mobilization efforts in African-American communities across Florida. This Voter Suppression Law will do exactly that – keep legal, qualified voters away from the ballot box.”

Contact: ACLU of Florida Media Office, (786) 363-2737 or media@aclufl.org August 25, 2011

FLORIDA LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS ENDS VOTER REGISTRATION

On July 15 of this year, Ryan Reilly at TPM Muckraker reported on the Florida League of Women Voters decision to quit registering voters in Florida. A new, radically restrictive law rushed through the state legislature by Republicans, puts third-party voter registration groups at risk of heavy fines which is too great a liability for the non-profit voter education group.

“When we looked at the laws, we felt that this would put our thousands of volunteers across the state who have registered voters for 70 years in Florida at a grave disadvantage,” said president of the Florida League of Women Voters, Deirdre MacNabb.

Volunteers would have to have “a secretary on one hand and a lawyer on the other hand as they registered voters,” MacNabb said.

“We did not feel that we as an organization could ask our volunteers to undergo that kind of vague, restrictive and punitive restriction which the legislature has tried to impose,” MacNabb said….

“I think the outcome will very clearly be much less opportunity to new eligible voters to have access to third-party registration groups,” MacNabb said. “We think it will make it likely we will see far more use of provisional ballots, and it will be much less convenient, especially for working citizens, to get to the polls for early voting.”

FLORIDA VOTERS BILL OF RIGHTS

Each registered voter in this state has the right to:

1. Vote and have his or her vote accurately counted.

2. Cast a vote if he or she is in line at the official closing of the polls in that county.

3. Ask for and receive assistance in voting.

4. Receive up to two replacement ballots if he or she makes a mistake prior to the ballot being cast.

5. An explanation if his or her registration or identity is in question.

6. If his or her registration or identity is in question, cast a provisional ballot.

7. Written instructions to use when voting, and, upon request, oral instructions in voting from elections officers.

8. Vote free from coercion or intimidation by elections officers or any other person.

9. Vote on a voting system that is in working condition and that will allow votes to be accurately cast.

Florida uses two electronic voting systems: ES&S, Dominion

Election Systems and Software, Inc.

(11208 John Galt Blvd. Omaha, NE 68137)

http://www.essvote.com

Election Systems & Software (ES&S) is a subsidiary of McCarthy Group, LLC, which is jointly held by the holding firm and the Omaha World-Herald Company, the publisher of Nebraska’s largest newspaper. As of 2007 it was the largest manufacturer of voting machines in the United States, claiming customers in 1,700 localities. As of 2007 it had approximately 350 employees; 2005 revenues were $117 million.

Election Systems & Software was founded in 1979 as American Information Systems Inc. (AIS), it merged with Business Records Corp. the following year and changed its name to ES&S. It was one of the top four providers of voting equipment used in the November 2004 election; the other three were Diebold Election Systems (now Premier Election Solutions), Sequoia Voting Systems and Hart InterCivic.

History

Senator Chuck Hagel was an investor in the McCarthy Group Inc. and served as chairman of its AIS subsidiary from the early ‘90s until March 1995. AIS was responsible for counting 85% of the votes in his home state of Nebraska during the 1996 and 2002 elections. He did not disclose his position in the company in his mandated disclosures, until its name-change to Election Systems & Software (ES&S) in 1997.

2006 elections

After the November 2006 elections, Indiana launched an inquiry into poor service by the company, settling when ESS agreed to pay $750,000. West Virginia filed a formal complaint against the company with federal officials. Arkansas put together a panel to investigate. The company denied any major trouble with its machines, attributing problems to errors made by poll workers.

Withdrawal of InkaVote

On 3 August 2007, California Secretary of state Debra Bowen withdrew approval of the ES&S InkaVote Plus optical scan voting system after a “top-to-bottom review” of the voting machines certified for use in California in March 2007.

Reported problems during the 2008 election

Early voters in the 2008 Presidential election reported instances of malfunctioning machines. People complained that they voted for one candidate, only to have their selection switch to another. The clerk of Oakland County, Michigan reported inconsistent results with some machines during testing in October.

Acquisition of Premier Election Solutions

ES&S acquired Premier Election Solutions on 3 September 2009. The US Department of Justice and 14 individual states have launched investigations into the acquisitions on antitrust grounds. The company then sold it to Dominion Voting Systems.

Dominion Voting Systems, Inc

http://www.dominionvoting.com

221 Hopkins Avenue
Jamestown, New York 14701

Dominion Voting Systems is a privately-owned Denver-based company that sells electronic voting machines.

In August 2010, Dominion reported that it has contracts to provide electronic voting systems to 600 jurisdictions in some 22 states of the United States, and has deployed 80,000 Dominion ImageCast Precinct Optical Scan Tabulators around the world.

Dominion was founded in 2002 in Toronto, Canada, by John Poulos and James Hoover.

In May 2010, Dominion acquired Premier Election Solutions (PES) from Election Systems & Software (ES&S). (ES&S had just acquired PES from Diebold and was required to sell off PES by the United States Department of Justice for anti-trust concerns.)

In June 2010, Dominion acquired Sequoia Voting Systems. The two acquisitions expanded Dominion significantly. With the acquisitions the company moved its headquarters to Denver.

Poulos, President and CEO of Dominion, has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto and an MBA from INSEAD, in Fontainebleau, France. Hoover (Vice President) has an MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta.

FLORIDA’S RADICAL VOTER SUPPRESSION LAW AFFECTS REGISTRATION DRIVES

Ch. 2011-40, Laws of Florida, which amended s. 97.0575, Florida Statutes, is not being implemented by or in Collier, Hardee, Hendry, Hillsborough, and Monroe Counties. Third-party voter registration activities in these counties are governed by s. 97.0575, Florida Statutes (2010) until preclearance occurs for these counties.

What is a Third-Party Voter Registration Organization?

A third-party voter registration organization means any person, entity, or organization that solicits or collects any voter registration application, but does not include:

• a person who seeks only to register to vote or collect a voter registration application from that person’s spouse, child, or parent;
  or
• a person engaged in registering to vote or collecting voter registration applications as an employee or agent of the Division of Elections, supervisor of elections, Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, or an official voter registration agency.

What are the responsibilities of a 3PVRO?

A 3PVRO must comply with all statutory (see s. 97.0575, Fla. Stat.) and regulatory (see Rule 1SER11-02) requirements. Some specific requirements: • Timely submit allvoter registration applications to the Division or the Supervisor of Elections, including

incomplete applications (see question “Are There Penalties?” below, for timeliness requirements). • Serve as a fiduciary for the applicants from which it collects voter registration applications. • Ensure its assigned ID # is on every voter registration application provided to and received by the 3PVRO. • Keep its registration and registration agents’ information updated within 10 days of any change. • File monthly reports on Form DS-DE 123 with the Division NLT the 10th of each month reflecting an accounting of all registration forms provided to and received from its registration agents during the preceding month. The form must be e-mailed as an attachment in pdf format to 3PVRO@dos.state.fl.us or transmitted to the Division’s facsimile machine at 850-245-6291.

Penalties for returning forms after 48-hour period range from $50 to $1,000

A 3PVRO which collects voter registration applications serves as a fiduciary to the applicant, ensuring that any application entrusted to the 3PVRO shall be promptly delivered to the Division or the Supervisor of Elections. If a voter registration application collected by any 3PVRO is not promptly delivered to the Division or the Supervisor of Elections, the organization is liable for the following fines:

• $50 for each voter registration application received by the Division or the Supervisor of Elections more than 48 hours after the applicant delivered the completed application to the 3PVRO or any person, entity, or agency acting on its behalf. The fine increases to $250 per application if the act was willful.
• $100 for each voter registration application collected by a 3PVRO or any person, entity, or agent acting on its behalf, before book closing for any given election for federal or state office and received by the Division or the Supervisor of Elections after the book closing deadline. The fine increases to $500 per application if the act was willful.
• $500 for each voter registration application collected by a 3PVRO or any person, entity, or agent acting on its behalf, which is not submitted to the Division or the Supervisor of Elections. The fine increases to $1000 for any application if the act was willful.

– The date the applicant signed the voter registration application is presumed to be the date the 3PVRO received the application. However, the 3PVRO is responsible for printing the date and time the applicant completed the application in a conspicuous space on the bottom portion of the reverse side of any voter registration application in a manner that does not obscure any of other entry.

– The aggregate fine which may be assessed against a 3PVRO, including affiliate organizations, for violations committed in a calendar year is capped at $1,000.

How do I register?

Prior to engaging in any voter registration activities, a third-party voter registration organization must register by submitting Form DS-DE 119 (eff. 06/2011) as an e-mail attachment in pdf format to3PVRO@dos.state.fl.us or transmitting it to the Division’s facsimile machine at 850-245-6291. The Division must approve the registration and assign the third-party voter registration organization an ID # before the third-party voter registration organization can conduct voter registration activities. Also, before any of its registration agents solicit or collect voter registration applications, the third-party voter registration organization must list the person as a registration agent on Form DE-DE 119 and the registration agent must have Form DS-DE 120 on file with the Division. See s. 97.0575, Florida Statutes, and Rule 1SER11-02, Florida Administrative Code.

Should I Register if I am Only Handing Out Voter Registration Applications?

Distributing voter registration applications by itself does not make a person a 3PVRO. An organization must only register when it solicits a person to return voter registration applications to the organization or if the organization collects the voter registration applications from the applicants.

Must Each Person “Helping” Me Register as a Third-Party Voter Registration Organization?

No, as long as the entity registered as a 3PVRO is actually controlling those persons (registration agents) helping to solicit for collection or collect voter registration applications and the voter registration applications are returned to the controlling entity for delivery to the applicable Supervisor of Elections or Division. However, again, each registration agent must complete Form DS-DE 120 before engaging in voter registration activities on behalf of a 3PVRO.

Must a Candidate, Political Committee, or Political Party Register as a Third-Party Voter Registration Organization?

Any candidate, political committee, or political party (or anyone else) who solicits for collection or collects voter registration applications must register as a 3PVRO.

Must Affiliates or Subsidiaries of a Third-Party Voter Registration Organization Register?

Each subsidiary or affiliate of a registered 3PVRO that also solicits for collection or collects voter registration applications must also register as a 3PVRO. Affiliate organization means any person, group, or entity associated with the 3PVRO as a subordinate, subsidiary, member, branch, chapter, as a central or parent organization, or through direct or indirect ownership or control. Ownership or control means substantial and effective, though not necessarily predominant, ownership or control.

Is a Registered Agent Required and What is a Registered Agent?

3PVROs must designate on Form DS-DE 119 an agent (person or entity) that the organization authorizes as its agent to accept service of legal process on its behalf. The registered agent must accept the appointment by signing Form DS-DE 119; forms without the designated registered agent’s signature will be considered incomplete. The Division interprets “registered agent” of a 3PVRO to mean an individual resident in the state or a domestic or foreign corporation or a not-for-profit corporation authorized to transact business in the state with such person or corporation being authorized to accept legal service of process for the 3PVRO.

How does an organization update or withdraw it’s registration as a Third-Party Voter Registration Organization?

A Third-Party Voter Registration Organization must submit Form DS-DE 119 reflecting the update or withdrawal. The form must be submitted as an e-mail attachment in pdf format to3PVRO@dos.state.fl.us or transmitted to the Division’s facsimile machine at 850-245-6291.

Note: If a Third-Party Voter Registration Organization’s registration agent terminates his or her employment or volunteer service, the agent must immediately notify the Third-Party Voter Registration Organization, which must file an amended Form DS-DE119 reflecting the termination.

List of Third-Party Voter Registration Organizations at Florida Division of Elections website

To view a list of all active and withdrawn organizations, please click here

For more formation, please contact Peggy Taff, Chief, Bureau of Voter Registration Services, Division of Elections at (850) 245-6290.