Democratic senators hold Tampa hearing on state's voting law

Two Democratic U.S. senators on Friday accused Florida's Republican-led Legislature of plotting to deny citizens their most basic and inalienable right: the right to vote.

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin rendered that verdict after listening to two hours of testimony at Tampa's George E. Edgecomb Courthouse. Durbin came to town as chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights to investigate whether the state law denies voters their constitutional rights.

The courtroom was packed to its capacity of 168, with more than 200 people watching on television in an adjoining room. Many wore stickers on their shirts that said, "One Voice, One Vote."

Republican legislators passed the law last year, saying it would prevent voter fraud and save county election supervisors money. But most of the seven people who testified said the provisions of the law make it harder to vote by decreasing early voting days, while placing onerous restrictions on third party groups and individuals who register new voters.

The law disproportionately affects blacks, Hispanics, the elderly and young people, all Democratic constituencies, witnesses said. Nelson agreed, saying the law jeopardized the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law that sets the country apart from the rest of the world.

"Mr. Chairman, I think that rule of law has been assaulted here in this state by this election law under the pretense of election fraud," Nelson said at the end of the hearing.

Nelson said the law would have to be changed by the courts because the Republican Legislature wouldn't do it. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Brennan Center for Justice have challenged the law in state and federal court.

After the hearing, state Republican Party Chairman Lenny Curry issued a press release in which he accused Nelson and Durbin of trying to change "common sense laws that protect our system of democracy from fraud …"

"Nothing suppresses voters more than having to cast a vote in a fraudulent system," Curry said, citing the arrest last year of the Madison County supervisor of elections and eight others for election fraud.

But several witnesses told Nelson and Durbin that fraud is nearly non-existent in Florida.

"It's not a case of voter fraud because voter fraud is not out there," said Ann McFall, Volusia County's supervisor of elections for 22 years.

McFall went public with her concerns about the law after she had to report a high school teacher to the Secretary of State's office for registering students to vote but not turning in the registration forms within 48 hours as required by the new law. The previous time frame was 10 days.

McFall said she also had to report a well-known Daytona Beach activist who signed up four people to vote at a church social and missed the deadline by a few days.

The law also prohibits a voter from changing his or her address at the precinct or at an early voting site as they could previously. A voter who lives at an address not registered with the supervisor's office must cast a provisional ballot. Witnesses testified that less than 50 percent of provisional ballots cast in Florida's 2008 general election were counted.

The change of address requirements will prevent many college students from voting, said Sarah Pemberton, president of the Florida College Student Government Association. More than 51 percent of university students transferred from a college or a community college, Pemberton said, requiring many of them to move. Because they often balance college and jobs, students are likely to forget to register their new address.

Alone among the seven witnesses to testify, only Seminole County elections supervisor Michael Ertel chose to defend the law against what he called "fear tactics" and "partisan machinations."

Ertel said when he heard the League of Woman Voters was going to stop voter registrations because of the law's restrictions on third party registration groups, he asked the group's leaders to change their minds.

"I want folks to go out to register voters," Ertel said. "It's a vital process; it's the ticket to the dance."

Ertel said he deputized the county's high school principals so they could register students without worrying about turning in forms late.

Durbin had previously made public an invitation he sent to Gov. Rick Scott, who signed House Bill 1355 into law. Scott's office declined.