Gail Gottlieb on Politics: ‘Reforms’ Give Way to 'Voter Suppression Act of 2011'

Unlike in many other countries were citizens are actually required to vote (I’m opposed to this) and/or where election day is an official holiday (might be worth considering), here in the United States, performing this civic duty is a voluntary commitment that often entails real logistical and bureaucratic hurdles.

But instead of making access to the ballot box more available and convenient, the Republican-dominated Florida legislature has passed, and Governor Rick Scott has signed, what should be called the "Voter Suppression Act of 2011." It’s not intended to crack down on fraud; it’s a crack-down on voting itself.

Now, Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning is making an end-run around the U.S. Department of Justice to avoid having the agency invalidate the most controversial portions of the legislation as a violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  Five Florida counties with a particularly strong history of racial discrimination — Hillsborough County among them — await a federal district court ruling on the contested changes. The proposed “reforms” may appear subtle, but their potential effect on the outcome of elections is significant, and is not unintentional.

The new law reduces early voting periods from the previous 14-day period maximum to just eight days; voting on the Sunday before election day is now completely prohibited. This places a burden on everyone, but especially on those with limited transportation options and the poor, among whom African-Americans are disproportionately represented. African-Americans also tend to vote for Democratic candidates.

Under the Voter Suppression Act, Florida residents who have already registered but who have recently moved to a new county and have proof of the new address, are now restricted to provisional ballots. This practice discourages students and other young people, who change addresses even more often than the general population. This is not about preventing fraud. In fact, election law experts agree that the instance of individual-level voter fraud is so low as to be insignificant. It’s sad in its way, but apparently too few Americans are sufficiently enthusiastic about voting to even care enough to cheat.

The Voter Suppression Act also sends the message that new voters are not wanted. Non-partisan groups that organize voter registration drives, like Rock the Vote, the League of Women Voters, and the Boy Scouts of America, are now required to submit registration forms within an impossibly rushed 48 hours of being signed or face financial and civil penalties. Regretfully, the League of Women Voters has already announced that it will discontinue registering new voters in Florida. Don’t we want to encourage, rather than discourage, greater voter participation?

And there’s more bad news for our democracy. The Florida Board of Executive Clemency, with the support of the all-Republican quartet of Governor Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, has made it even more onerous for citizens who have been convicted of a crime and have already served their sentences to have their voting rights restored. Even though restoration of civil rights is a key component to re-integration into society, with actual waiting periods of eight to 13 years just to get a determination, who could really blame former offenders (among whom African-Americans are disproportionately represented) for just giving up? And here we thought Governor Scott was all about rehabilitation -- but maybe that was only to cut the prison system budget and to urge voters to forgive his own brushes with the law.

The Voter Suppression Act and other changes in election procedures are far more than administrivia; they pose a real threat to participatory democracy, as Brandon-area Representatives Rachel Burgin and Richard Gloriosa should have recognized when they lent their support to this retrogressive legislation. Whether we are black, white, or neither, Republican, Democrat, or neither, freedom itself is be undermined whenever access to the ballot is unduly restricted. What is the true intent behind the Voter Suppression Act: to “reform” election procedures or “deform” the democratic process?