Below is a memo from John Russell I received today and the newspaper story that follows detailing pending disaster. If these bills end up becoming law you can write off Florida for decades to come, putting the entire election system in the hands of the Florida Secretary of State and so hamstringing grassroots efforts and in particular Democrats and other non-Republicans, that we are just totally screwed given the importance of Florida in the national picture.
Friends,
I have stood resolutely for maximizing accessibility of the voting franchise while also advocating for a revised election process that enhances public trust in the mechanisms of our election system through increased transparency. The current bills being railroaded through our state legislature and senate represent nothing but a means of limiting access to ordinary people in every way conceivable.
Notwithstanding all of our prior "issues" with voting in Florida, these bills concentrate power in the hands of ONE individual, Secretary of State Kurt Browning in whom based on my dealings in the past I place little trust or veracity of action. Please read the article below and take a moment to become involved.
Your time invested now will make your vote more valuable down the road when more, not less like-minded people who share your world view are permitted to have their vote cast and counted as it was cast. :)
Review my discussion of Election Reform on my website at this link.
http://www.johnrussellforcongress.com/page.asp?PageId=68Below is an article from the Times and an appeal from well known voting rights activist Kindra Muntz.
Thank you. John Russell
Your help is needed...
Attention Concerned Voters statewide:
We need your help Monday morning to stop the corrupt power-grab by Tallahassee legislators. See below.
With little discussion, Florida House council passes sweeping changes to voting rules
Controversial voting bill gets fast-tracked
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/legislature/article993043.eceBy Steve Bousquet, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Published Friday, April 17, 2009
TALLAHASSEE — A House council hurriedly passed a sweeping rewrite of Florida election laws Friday, shutting down public comment after just two minutes and prompting an uproar from opponents.
Like a similar Senate version, the House bill would ban two forms of voter ID at the polls now used mainly by older voters and require paid ballot-initiative circulators to register with the state. It also would require people whose addresses changed in the month before an election to cast provisional ballots, prohibit anyone from interacting with voters in a floating 100-foot zone outside polling places and make it more difficult for third-party groups to register new voters.
The 81-page bill was debated Friday at an 8 a.m. meeting of the House Economic Development Council and passed on a 10-5 party-line vote.
Full bills are viewable at www.flsenate.gov and www.myfloridahouse.gov.
The Senate version (SB 956) was heard for the first time Thursday, passing the Ethics and Elections Committee 5-3 over Democratic objections. Most speakers were allowed just one minute to testify on the bill.
No other committees in the House are slated to review the bills, so there's no chance for additional public testimony in the two weeks left in the session.
The bills would allow political committees registered in other states to be active in Florida without complying with the Sunshine State's campaign reporting requirements, which are stricter than other states'. Legislators would be allowed to create leadership funds to solicit large donations from special interests and lobbyists, and the bill repeals a 2008 law that allows senators and others who hold a four-year term to run for a federal office without resigning.
Absent from either bill is an expansion of early voting hours or locations. That was a major concern of election supervisors in the 2008 election. Gov. Charlie Crist signed an executive order expanding early voting hours, a factor that was cited as helpful to Barack Obama's victory in Florida.
Both bills would ban identification now allowed at the polls: retirement center and neighborhood association ID cards.
In the House on Friday, Rep. Jennifer Carroll, R-Green Cove Springs, suggested limiting debate to six minutes. When the committee chairman, Rep. Dave Murzin, R-Pensacola, allowed two people to make brief statements, Rep. Rob Schenck, R-Brooksville, insisted that no more testimony be allowed.
Asked later to explain his conduct, Schenck said: "It was just procedural. … This issue will be vetted very thoroughly on the (House) floor, and there will probably be hours of debate on it."
"This is a travesty," said Rep. Maria Sachs, D-Boca Raton.
:think: Rep. Audrey Gibson, D‑Jacksonville, said the bill "is an attempt at suppressing Democratic voter turnout because they turned out in record numbers" in 2008.
Components of the bill were discussed only fleetingly, such as a proposal that would prohibit any "person, political committee … or other group or organization" from interacting with voters waiting in line to vote.
When Rep. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, asked the bill's sponsor if people would be prevented from dispensing water to voters standing in line in the heat, Rep. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, said she didn't know.
"I think it was unconscionable," said Rich Templin of the Florida AFL-CIO, one of those not allowed to testify. Murzin told him to submit written testimony instead.
In a statement, the labor group and five other organizations called the House's action "an insult to the hundreds of thousands of Floridians our organizations collectively represent. We are firmly convinced that this legislation will fundamentally alter Florida's most basic democratic institutions and disenfranchise millions of our state's voters." They said a hurried vote, without public debate, "represents the height of arrogance by some of our legislative leaders."
The House Democratic leader, Rep. Franklin Sands, D-Weston, took the floor on a point of personal privilege to condemn the council's action. He said the bill's contents were not made public until late Thursday night while lawmakers were debating the budget. Sands asked that the bill be returned to the same committee for more study and testimony.
"This morning's deliberations failed to meet the Legislature's promise of open and fair government," Sands said.
Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com.
Concerned Voters: Please make these phone calls Monday morning April 20th:
--To your State Representative and State Senator, and to these three people:
1) Senate President Jeff Atwell, 850-487-5100 VOTE NO on ELECTION BILL SB956
2) House Speaker Larry Cretul 850-488-1450 VOTE NO on ELECTION BILL PCB-EDCA 09-08
3) Governor Crist 850-488-4441 VETO the consolidated ELECTION BILL if it gets to your desk
This bill
* forces more voters to vote on provisional ballots, which have a high rejection rate
* further restricts voter registration groups
* imposes more restrictions on petition-gatherers
* imposes arbitrary fines
* expands the “no-solicitation zone”, keeping needed information from voters
* further limits acceptable IDS, denying eligible voters the right to vote
* increases the purging of voter rolls, with no time to correct errors before elections
* concentrates too much power in the Secretary of State
* sweeps away local ordinances and local voter protections
Full bills are viewable at www.flsenate.gov and www.myfloridahouse.gov.
Thank you,
Kindra Muntz, President
Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections (SAFE)
Co-Founder, Florida Voters Coalition
Member, VoteTrustUSA Leaders
Member, RoundTableOnVoting
safevote@comcast.net
www.safevote.org
941.497.1764
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