The Guardian recently focused on the impact of Florida’s new election laws on voter registration. And if we had a functioning Supreme Court, you’d think that the voter suppression laws that the government has put in place would be overturned. But we don’t, getting angry—and, of course, voting where we can—seems like our only option.
According to The Guardian, Florida has paid more than $100,000 to 26 voter registration groups since last September for what any reasonable person would consider to be true, and unavoidable, mistakes.
In other words, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the southern suzerain who always looks like a Pekingese in a Kwanzaa sweater spent the last 20 minutes shaking his shin, doing his best to turn his country into a solid Republican decision. And, sadly, in many ways, he has already won.
DISCUSSION SUBJECT: DeSantis appeals to Floridians to attract attention to the MAGA foundation
The fines, which range from $50 to thousands of dollars, were paid by the state’s Office of Criminal Justice and Safety, the first agency of its kind. was created under the direction of DeSantis in 2022 investigating voter fraud. Voter fraud is extremely rare, and the office has done it before will be reviewed by bringing cases against persons who appear to have been interfered with in their right to vote.
In other words, Ol’ Puddin’ Fingers putting her belly button on the scale again. If you’re a long-time Democrat, you probably remember DeSantis’s organized campaign they gathered criminals who did not know they were breaking the law by voting. He was afraid of votes, because it was.
Election officials are concerned that the new policy could confuse voters. There has already been a decline in voter registration this year compared to 2019 – the last year leading up to the presidential election, according to Daniel Smith, a political science professor at the University of Florida. Through June 1 this year, 2,430 new registrations came from third-party voter registration agencies, he said. This is expected to be a significant drop from the 63,212 new voter registration groups submitted at the end of 2019.
Cracking down on third-party voter registration groups could also have a significant impact on Floridians, which is close to five times they can register with groups other than white voters.
Well, there you have it: I buried the lede. Then again, blatant discrimination all the time lead in every DeSantis tale. But here it is, the black and purple print: DeSantis’ new policy with the election litigation office says it all. He would prefer that Floridians of color abstain from voting.
“The message is clear, [third-party voter registration organizations] is an endangered species in Florida. And it affects these people in different ways,” said Smith, a UF political science professor who is helping opponents of the new bans challenge them in federal court. “When you start to interfere with the ability of groups and their First Amendment rights to petition … the government by registering people to vote, you’re going to affect the numbers. all of the subscribers.”
Although the new rules may not be so difficult as Jim Crow-era tax or test scores, They are tools the government can use to alienate voters — especially Democratic-leaning ones — from the ballot box.
For example, the non-profit The Guardian mentioned, the Hispanic Federation, was told in May that it was being fined $7,500 because only 15 of its more than 16,500 registered voters were sent to the wrong precinct. Reporters Sam Levine and Andrew Witherspoon reviewed the applications and found that “in almost all cases, voters incorrectly listed on their applications that they live in Polk County. In most cases, the address they listed was close to Osceola County.”
One voter lives within 300 feet of the county line, while another lives within 660. The Hispanic Federation paid the fine, but called the tax a “misuse” of the law.
“Despite our efforts in good faith, expertise, and diligence, we cannot eliminate certain applications from being completed with errors because we have not been given the opportunity to verify the information of each applicant – which is, in any case, not our responsibility,” the group said. or that we have diverted such registrations from the correct government or that we have retained registrations beyond the time when they should have been sent.”
Although any reasonable person would think that the Hispanic Federation should not have to pay $7,500 for small honest mistakes, the severity of the punishment is only a part and not a mistake.
Although the law is different from the vote to suppress the effort that the goal there is almost no voter fraud– Of course I am dealing with a real problem, it is not a problem that causes this type of illegality.
The law, which imposes a $500 fine for each registration form sent to the wrong precinct, was enacted after election officials complained that they were being swept away by foreign petitions, causing a burden on staff. Last year, the Florida legislature raised the amount that third-party registration groups can receive from $1,000 to $50,000. The hat was raised again earlier this year to $250,000. Late submissions (Florida shortened the deadline for turning in completed forms from 14 days to 10 days) are also subject to a $50 fee per application.
Obviously, this has affected the activities of these organizations. Instead one group, the for-profit Hard Knocks Strategies, has been fined $47,600 starting in 2022 for submitting forms late and in the wrong places. Another group, Poder Latinx, was fined $26,000 for sending 52 applications to the wrong region.
“We are a small group of registered voters with a long history of compliance with all laws. We had to pay penalties in Florida to avoid expensive lawsuits, but we paid them without admitting wrongdoing,” Hard Knocks Strategies said. “Are right-wing voter registration agencies targeted as aggressively and frequently in Florida as those seeking to register voters of color and other underrepresented communities? Given Gov. DeSantis’ record, the question would be moot.”
Gee, what do you think?
DISCUSSION SUBJECT: Ohio GOP officials are rejecting the wrongdoings of Jewish groups but allowing them into anti-abortion groups.
Consider Rosemary McCoy, who runs the nonprofit Harriet Tubman Freedom Fighters. He recently received a $600 fine for submitting 12 forms late. As he says, one of the reasons software is being shipped late is that his team is in control – making sure everything is correct.
“It’s a big fine,” McCoy said. “The purpose of these fines is to prevent us from registering people. … Somebody has to get out there and sign people up and that’s what we do.
Well, yes, it is. But DeSantis clearly doesn’t want you to. And if our world is stupid enough looking behind him a terrible call and electing a president, democracy can be a fond memory to comfort us in our old age.
DISCUSSION SUBJECT: DeSantis’ conservative policies are hurting Florida
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