Florida election law bill vetoed
April 7, 2010
The Florida Governor vetoed HB1207, a recently passed election law bill.
According to the bill analysis posted online, the bill would have reenacted and amended provisions related to electioneering communications and electioneering communication organizations (ECOs), revised provisions relating to use of local government funds for political advertising, and authorized the leader of each political party conference of the state House of Representatives and Senate to establish a separate, affiliated party committee to support the election of candidates of the leader’s political party. Here are links to coverage in the Miami Herald, Palm Beach Post, St. Pete Times, and Orlando Sentinel.
Latest on the Supreme Court and the Voting Rights Act
June 23, 2009
A large number of interesting pieces on yesterday’s Supreme Court decision on Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Here’s a few interesting ones: Washington Post The Hill NYTimes Washington Times While the majority of the Supreme Court did not rule on the constitutionality of Section 5, it did open the door to more political entities having the ability to seek to opt out of the preclearance review. Right now, in Florida, all government entities in Collier, Hardee, Hendry, Hillsborough, and Monroe Counties are subject to having any election procedure changes precleared by the Justice Dept. or the courts, including such things as polling site changes. This also causes all statewide election procedure changes to need preclearance as well. The practical effect of this ruling, however, is probably small as the cost and political ramifications of filing such an action in federal court in D.C. to request an opt out is probably beyond most local governments. In his dissent, Justice Thomas argued that this preclearance requirement has succeeded and therefore now lacks a constitutional basis for its continued existence. The rest of the Court were not willing to go down that path yet, but it will interesting to see if any changes to the VRA are looked at in Congress over the next year to deal with the concerns the Court raised.
Election bill dead for this session?
April 27, 2009
Numerous reports, including this one in the Miami Herald, indicate that leader of the Florida House of Representatives does not think there is enough time left in this session for the proposed elections bills. With the legislative session looking at either an extension or a special session this year, we’ll see what happens.
America Votes! Supplement
April 2, 2009
I contributed a chapter to the American Bar Association to the America Votes! Supplement - just published today.
A return to the blog.
March 13, 2009
Thanks for all of you who have asked about this blog, I’m now resuming my work on it. I’ve been working on a forthcoming publication on these kind of issues, so that has taken time away from this space. With that concluded, I’ll be posting again here. With the Florida Legislature in session, I’m sure we’ll see some interesting new legislation to consider in this period between elections.
VOTE
November 4, 2008
I think that says it all - if you need to find your polling place, go to the State site then contact your local Supervisor of Elections for locations. Polls open 7am-7pm.
Early voting hours extended via a State of Emergency
October 29, 2008
Per Executive Order 08-217, the Florida Governor extended early voting hours throughout Florida by declaring a State of Emergency. The new hours are 7AM-7PM through Friday and then 12 hours on the weekend. As before, the weekend hours will vary from county to county with some open on Sunday and other not. Check your local Supervisor’s website for more details in your county.
Is this legal? It happened in 2002 when the Governor then extended polling hours on primary election day to 9PM - the State Speaker of the House has questioned the action but says the Legislature will not challenge it.
So have people heard about this? My personal experience is yes as the early voting site I drove by this morning had a line wrapping around the building at 7:25AM despite a 46 degree temperature.
Monday, October 6th is the last day to register to vote for the November Election!
October 6, 2008
Monday, October 6th is the last day to register to vote for the November Election! The registration form and information is online.
Palm Beach County ballots still missing
September 10, 2008
According the Palm Beach Post, after several attempts Palm Beach County cannot locate all of its ballots. Reports have narrowed the amount of ballot missing to about 3,000, with 102,000 votes supposed cast, but only 99,045 ballots located. Initially on election night, one judicial race was decided by 17 votes, while after a recount, the margin is now 60 votes. The apparently unsuccessful candidate for that race has filed suit against the State and local officials demanding either the election be overturned or a new election be held for the position.
Palm Beach Election Litigation online
September 10, 2008
The Leon County Clerk of the Circuit Court has continued their tradition of putting notable election litigation online. The complaint in the Palm Beach County judicial race dispute is online now.