In an end-run around the Obama administration’s Department of Justice, Secretary of State Kurt Browning on Friday asked a federal district court in Washington, D.C. to approve portions of the elections law passed earlier this year by the Florida Legislature.
Browning, already under fire with a legal challenge to the law , asked the courts to step in where he had previously asked the Department of Justice to go. The law is awaiting federal approval under the 1965 Voting Rights Act but civil rights groups have been urging the justice department to invalidate the measure, arguing that it disenfranchises minority voters.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson held a series of rallies in Florida this week opposing the law and the American Civil Liberties Union has sued both Browning and the governor for implementing it. Jackson called Florida “ground zero for the voter suppression movement” and said that Florida’s GOP-controlled Legislature wants to restrict minority voters to “dictate the outcome” of the 2012 elections.
Browning said in a statement the reason he sought the three-judge panel’s review “is to ensure that the changes to Florida’s election law are judged on their merits by eliminating the risk of a ruling impacted by outside influence. Since the passage of HB 1355, we have seen misinformation surrounding the bill increase. By asking a court to rule on certain aspects of the bill, we are assured of a neutral evaluation based on the facts.” … Read more
SPTimes/ Klas/07/29/2011
Browning seeks to skirt Obama admin review of Florida’s new voter law
FLatinConnect/ Arnoldo Varona, Editor
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