Court Enjoins Florida Voter Registration Requirement

On December 18, a U.S. District Court in Tallahassee enjoined enforcement of a two-year old Florida law concerning new voter registration forms. The law says that when someone registers to vote, he or she must provide a Florida drivers license number, a state ID number, or the last 4 digits of a Social Security Number.

When elections officials receive the voter registration application, they match the ID data with the state or federal databank. If the ID data doesn’t match the voter’s name, the voter registration form is rejected.

The court ruled that the Florida law (which indisputably has resulted in approximately 14,000 individuals remaining unregistered) probably conflicts with the “Help America Vote Act” passed by Congress in 2002. The Court also ruled that the Florida law probably conflicts with the “materiality” portion of the Voting Rights Act. Finally, the Court found that there is a fair chance that the Florida law conflicts with the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, while the case proceeds, the state may not enforce the law. Florida State Conference of the NAACP v Browning, no. 4:07-cv-402-SPM. The decision can be read here. Judge Stephen P. Mickle, who issued the order, is a Clinton appointee.

The “materiality” part of the Voting Rights Act says “no person shall be denied the right to vote because of an error or omission on any record or paper relating to any application, registration, or other act requisite to voting, if such error or omission is not material in determining whether such individual is qualified under State law to vote in such election.” The “materiality” part of the Voting Rights Act logically applies to checking signatures on petitions for candidates to get on the ballot, and has long been ignored.


Comments

Court Enjoins Florida Voter Registration Requirement — 3 Comments

  1. thanks for this great victory go to the Brennan Center for Justice and other groups.

    NC got rid of the “no match no vote” rule via legislation on Aug 29,07

    This is a huge victory for Florida, because it means thousands of eligible voters will not be blocked from voting anymore.

  2. I got curious about California whose form asks for the number from a CA ID card or CA DL. The form says that if you does not have either of these then you MUST enter the last 4 numbers of your social security number.

    California election code provides for situations where a registrant has neither saying “the state shall assign the applicant a number which will serve to identify the applicant for voter registration purposes.”

    The fact that California’s voter registration card uses the word “MUST” surely has prevented some eligible voters from completing the form.

  3. The California requirement only applies to voters registering for the first time, who are not appearing in person before an elections official. The California requirement matches the federal requirement, from the Help America Vote Act. If a California resident were registering at a Registrar of Voters office, the law would not require ID.

    If Florida only did what California and other states do, the lawsuit would not exist. The problem is that Florida has gone beyone the requirements of the Help America Vote Act.

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