A federal judge has announced a move to permanently block the state’s voter registration restrictions, following a temporary block a few months ago.
Federal Judge Robert L. Hinkle announced he was siding with a coalition of voting rights groups.
However, advocates are worried the law already did some damage to registration numbers.
Deirdre Macnab is the state director for the Florida League of Women Voters. Her group informs voters of polling locations and amendments. But they also do one other very important thing: they register voters—a lot of voters.
Macnab says Hinkle’s decision is great news, remarking, “For a lot of people, we bring the voter registration process to them. We make it easier to vote and the court really struck down the regulations and obstacles that the state had put in place.”
Macnab’s group had stopped registering voters last year after the state Legislature passed a bill that made registering voters harder. The League—and any other group—had to turn in forms within 48 hours.
Before the law, they had 10 days.
That provision and a few others is why the League and other groups sued the state. But Macnab says a lot of damage has already been done.
“We were unable to register voters for a full year, as was Rock the Vote, which is a very important organization nationally and in Florida for registering their young voters”, said Macnab “And the amount of catching up we have to do is going to be an incredible stretch.”
Macnab says that a lot of individuals are going to have to take it upon themselves to make sure their voter information is in order.