The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    Voting Uphill in the Sunshine State

    By Rootman on Sat, 11/05/2011 - 6:21pm |

    The same people who want your whole tax form to go on a tiny postcard have made registering to vote an onerous process in Florida. I've done voter registration drives here for decades, going back to the McGovern campaign, but this morning I had to take a class and be certified to register voters.

    A retired county prosecutor was in my class, and even she was perplexed by the legal requirements and liabilities the new regulations place on volunteers and their organizations.

    Several school teachers in the state are facing fines and prosecution for the crime of passing out voter registration forms to their students.

    Like about three dozen other states, Florida also passed new requirements for photo IDs (excluding college IDs) at the polls, and for voters to re-register for a local address changes.

    The biggest problem for volunteers is that every registration form you get filled in has to be time-stamped at the point of registration and be delivered to elections officials within 48 hours. Even blank and "spoiled" forms have to be accounted for.

    So your organization has to rush these things around like live organs for transplant, or face penalties.

    The Obama campaign is trying to make lemonade out of this by using a highly organized system to track every form. I think that might lead to a stronger campaign and more engagement with volunteers and new voters.

    It was a beautiful day here and my team was at a BBQ contest all day signing up new voters. Just a great day that I'll never forget. Exactly one year to election day.

    Comments

    Some of my snow bird friends are complaining about the hoops they are going through with this just to change their address from moving to a new apartment. I noticed a strong effort from grass roots Democrats in the last 2 elections cycles that I have not seen before. I have been in Florida for 30 years. It has to be slowing down Republican regestrations too. There is more Democrats regestered in Florida then Republicans.

    by trkingmomoe on Sun, 11/06/2011 - 4:33am

    There are significantly more registered Dems than Repubs in Fla, but the Repubs would be happy to freeze it the way it is. Even as a minority, they hold the governor's mansion, the state legislature, most of our U.S. Congressional delegation, and half of our Senators. They control gerrymandering and keep it that way, with the help of some shortsighted minority incumbents.

    But we are plugging away at registering young people and likely Dems. At our training, they showed that Obama's margin of victory in NC was less than the number of folks that the campaign registered in 2008 who turned out. That's amazing that that happened and also amazing that they can track such a thing. Once we register you, you're in our system and we get you to the polls if we can.


    by Rootman on Sun, 11/06/2011 - 7:43am

    Also the Democrats who are busy with organizing have a positive outlook that they are making change even with all the road blocks. I am glad you had a good day and the weather on the west coast has been nice too.

    by trkingmomoe on Sun, 11/06/2011 - 4:42am

    Very interesting, I'd been reading some about this Florida registration procedure, as as member of the League of Women voters, we discussed at our last meeting why the organization would not be conducting voter registration drives in Florida. The registration process is so stringent there is a great chance of our members being charged and prosecuted!

    I am amazed more people are not paying more attention to this, as Republicans are attempting to disenfranchise many, many people, they consider to be Democrats.

    Damn, I don't like it one bit, but thanks for the blog and the information.


    by tmccarthy0 on Sun, 11/06/2011 - 10:01am

    That is unprecedented that the League is not doing voter reg! Just tell your friends to go to http://www.barackobama.com/state/FL and sign up to register voters. The campaign assumes all liability for volunteers, does training, and provides all support.

    In Florida, you can legally take an assault weapon into a national park without a permit, but giving someone a voter registration form can get you a criminal record.


    by Rootman on Sun, 11/06/2011 - 10:17am

    It is unprecedented, since that is one of our main functions. I will get the info out there Rootman, thanks.


    by tmccarthy0 on Sun, 11/06/2011 - 10:32am