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...
A new Florida Supreme Court case has been published: Sarasota Alliance For Fair Elections, Inc., Etc., Et Al. v. Kurt S. Browning, Etc., Et Al. Beyond the question of whether you can pass a charter amendment regarding voting machines, what I found very interesting was the holding that the field of elections law had...
The much anticipated US Supreme Court case Citizens United v. F.E.C. has been released. 183 pages of opinion and dissent to analyze.
The Division of Elections has issued a new opinion dealing with the result of a recent Northern District federal case (Broward Coalition v. Browning) prohibiting enforcement of the electioneering communications provisions of Chapter 106, Florida Statutes, which the State apparently decided not to appeal further.
On a personal note, I am saddened to learn of the passing of a friend, Phyllis Busansky, Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections.
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...
The U.S. Supreme Court has released its much awaited opinion regarding Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, apparently side-stepping the question of whether Section 5 is constitutional. I’m still looking at it, but wanted to make the link available.
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.
The latest summary of the changes proposed in Senate Bill 956 is: Expressly providing that the Florida Election Code preempts any local provision regarding elections unless otherwise specifically provided by law. A substantial revision to third party voter registration organization requirements. The removal of retirement center identification and neighborhood association identification from the list...
As reported in the NY Times and St. Pete Times, the former “shell” bill SB956 has become the placeholder for a series of proposed elections changes. So far, the potential changes are listed in the committee amendments section – it’s schedule for a committee hearing Thursday afternoon.