Per the Palm Beach Post and other sources - the U.S. Department of Justice precleared Florida’s redistricting efforts (State and Federal) under Section 5 of the Federal Civil Rights Act. The submitals for preclerance are online at the State’s Redistricting website. In Leon County (Tallahassee) Circuit Court, a judge also denied Motions for Summary Judgment...
An update for you on the election litigation related to HB1355 that is ongoing in the State of Florida. The Orlando Sentintel reports that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (where the State filed its request for preclearance of sections of HB1355 under the Federal Voting Rights Act) views it unlikely...
Coverage on yesterday’s hearing from the Tallhassee Democrat, Miami Herald/AP, and Palm Beach Post.
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights conducted a field hearing in Tampa today on Florida’s 2011 election law changes. The Subcommittee’s webpage has the printed witness testimony (links on the right side of the subcommittee page). The Tampa Bay Times and Bay News 9 (video) provide local...
The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights has announced a field hearing entitled “New State Voting Laws II: Protecting the Right to Vote in the Sunshine State” to be held Friday, January 27th at 1pm at the Hillsborough County George E. Edgecomb Courthouse, 800 E. Twiggs Street, Tampa,...
In a letter this week, posted online by the Tampa Tribune, Sen. Dick Durbin responded to Sen. Bill Nelson’s request that the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights investigate HB1355 by agreeing with Nelson’s concerns and stating he will conduct a field hearing in Florida. No date for the...
Two updates this week related to past stories on this blog. As explained in the Palm Beach Post, the ACLU and League of Woman Voters challenge to the implementation of HB1355 was dismissed as moot and for a lack of standing and ripeness. The District Court found that most of the law had been precleared...
A surprising development in the preclearance saga of HB1355, the State has filed a First Amended Complaint seeking to have the court declare the preclearance obligation in Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. To recap my past posts on this topic: under the Federal Voting Rights Act, the State of Florida has to...
Interesting story out of the Florida Keys today related to local Supervisors of Elections getting involved in the Voting Rights Act litigation involving HB1355. The memorandum in support of the motion to intervene that includes the Supervisors, the ACLU, and Project Vote is also online.
Here’s the quote from the Secretary of State’s news release: “The purpose of filing in the federal district court is to ensure that the changes to Florida’s election law are judged on their merits by eliminating the risk of a ruling impacted by outside influence,… ince the passage of HB 1355, we have seen...