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Civil Rights Groups Sue to Halt Sections of 2001 Florida Election
Reform Act
August 15, 2001
MIAMI ? The Florida Equal Voting Rights Project today sued Florida and Monroe County elections officials, asking the federal court to enjoin implementation of several sections of the Florida Election Reform Act of 2001. The Project, on behalf of a statewide voting rights group, Florida Voters League, and an individual African American voter in Key West, claims that portions of the much-heralded electoral reform package passed by the Florida Legislature last Spring are, in fact, racially discriminatory.
The suit, titled Major v. Sawyer, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. It challenges the posting in all polling places of a list of "Voter Responsibilities" which lists, among other requirements, that a voter "study and know candidates and issues," "bring proper identification to the polling station" and "know how to operate voting equipment properly."
The plaintiffs claim that these provisions, and their prominent display as required by the new Florida law, are a throwback to the days of literacy tests, and may disproportionately impact race and language minorities in exercising the right to vote. The lawsuit is brought under the literacy test ban of the Voting Rights Act, which explicitly outlaws any requirement that a voter be able to demonstrate the "ability to read, write, understand or interpret any matter," or demonstrate "knowledge of any particular subject."
In addition to the Voter Responsibilities section of the Election Reform Act, the lawsuit also seeks to halt the implementation of a new felon purging process and provisional ballot system created by the Legislature, unless and until those provisions have been fully reviewed and approved by the U.S. Department of Justice under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act requires the Department of Justice to review all voting changes to be implemented in Monroe County for possible discriminatory effects because of the county's history of discrimination against minority voters and its former use of literacy tests.
"This suit," said Charles Major, an individual plaintiff in the action, "sends a clear message that electoral reform must move us forward, not take us back. We are in 2001, heading into 2002. We should not be going backwards to a time before there were any civil rights laws."
"We cannot allow the positive voting technology reforms of this legislation to be diminished by changes that would frighten voters away from the polls or prevent their votes from being counted," stated Eugene Poole, President of the Florida Voters League. "The Florida Voters League works to protect voting opportunities and foster active electoral participation by all citizens. Those goals cannot be accomplished with legislation that would have a chilling effect on voter participation."
Also affecting the impact of the Voter Responsibilities is the fact that, according to the most recent census data available, blacks and Latinos are far more likely than whites to move frequently and to be impoverished. As a result, they are less likely to have photo identification or to know their correct precinct after a recent move. "I know elderly people here who have never driven a car in their entire lives," Norma Jean Sawyer, long-time Key West resident and at-large member of the League commented. "They don't have photo ID. You tell them ID is required and give them no options and they will not vote."
"The posting of the ID requirement is a particularly good example of what is wrong with the Voter Responsibilities section of the Act," stated JoNel Newman, one of plaintiffs' attorneys, "not only does it threaten to discourage eligible minorities from voting, it falsely informs voters about the law." In fact, under Florida law, a voter without ID is entitled to vote by affidavit ballot. Plaintiff Charles Major added that if the Supervisors of Elections had properly met their obligation to educate voters about voting equipment before, many of the November 2000 election problems would have been avoided. "This Legislation makes it worse," he concluded.
That minorities tend to move more frequently than whites and be erroneously purged as felons forms the basis of the suit's challenge to the disqualification process for provisional ballots, which disqualifies all otherwise valid ballots cast in the wrong precinct. "Provisional ballots are a good concept, but they must be implemented correctly," stated Project Attorney and Co-Director Charles Elsesser. "Unfortunately, the provisional balloting system as it is set up now will encourage both poll workers and voters to use the provisional ballot anytime a voter is not on the rolls. A person who moves and then goes to the wrong precinct might be given a provisional ballot instead of being directed to the correct precinct. That person's ballot would later be 'rejected as illegal' without his or her knowledge."
"Today's lawsuit," concluded ACLU of Florida Executive Director Howard Simon, "challenges some of the lesser publicized but negative changes enacted by the Florida legislature that will undo many of the positive election reforms and serve to disenfranchise even more minority voters than were disenfranchised in November 2000."
Background
Major v. Sawyer is not the first attempt by the Florida Equal Voting Rights Project to prevent the implementation of these three provisions of the Florida Election Reform Act. On April 27, 2001, the Project sent a letter to Florida Speaker of the House Tom Feeney and other legislative leaders urging them to revise the election reform package to eliminate the Voter Responsibilities list. On July 19, 2001, the Project sent a letter of comment to the U.S. Department of Justice asking the Department to object to the Responsibilities, the new felon purge process and the disqualification process for provisional ballots.
The Florida Equal Voting Rights Project is a project of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida in conjunction with Florida Legal Services and the Florida Justice Institute. It is made possible through a grant of the Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation. The Project previously filed a lawsuit, still pending, to challenge the State's failure to fulfill its legal obligation to assist persons leaving supervision with the complicated process of applying for restoration of their civil and voting rights.
