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Judge Blocks Law Limiting Voter Registration In State

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The Associated Press

Published: December 19, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - A federal judge on Tuesday blocked enforcement of a Florida law that prevents people from registering to vote if officials cannot match their Social Security or driver's license numbers to federal or state databases.

Secretary of State Kurt Browning said he would immediately appeal the temporary injunction U.S. District Judge Stephan Mickle issued against the matching law that is designed to prevent election fraud.

Three civil rights organizations challenged the statute. They argued it violates voting rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and federal laws because the databases are unreliable and the matching process is prone to human error, computer glitches and other problems.

"There could be typos," said Elizabeth Westfall, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers. "Someone could be using their married name, but their Social Security number might be entered under their maiden name."

The use of two last names by Hispanics and nontraditional names or spellings favored by many blacks put them at greater risk of error, Westfall said.

The state and plaintiffs - the Florida Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Southwest Voter Education Project and Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition - agreed that 14,000 people have been unable to register because their numbers failed to match.

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