The Florida League of Voters analyzed the 2012 general election to find out why voting lines were so long and totals delays. Today they presented a report that details what went wrong and reforms the League wants lawmakers to adopt.
Professors from Dartmouth and the University of Florida crunched the state voting data and summarized that voting law changes in 2011 contributed to Florida’s election woes.
During a conference call on his analysis, UF political science professor Daniel Smith said reduced early voting days, restricted polling locations, and not allowing voters to update their addresses increased absentee voting."We have one county, Collier County, that 6% of the absentee ballots cast by African Americans were rejected as invalid", said Smith. "That compares to 1.3% of absentee ballots cast by white voters."
Hillsborough County – which is also under federal voting guidelines – had a much smaller discrepancy between rejected absentee ballots.
The League is calling on lawmakers to rescind the voting changes they made in 2011.