By Regan McCarthy
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-981374.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – The Department of Justice has given the okay to most of Florida's new elections law. Regan McCarthy reports the state is still waiting for a decision from the federal court system on the law's four most contentious provisions.
Florida is waiting for a decision about whether four parts of the state's new elections law discriminate against any voters. The four provisions include rules that would reduce the total number of days early voting is open, make it more difficult for 3rd parties to register voters, put more rules in place for a public ballot initiative, and stop letting voters change their names and addresses at the polls. The state is required to submit any election law changes to the Federal Government for review because of the state's history of discrimination in five counties.
Originally the state asked the Department of Justice to review all aspects of the law, but recently Florida's Secretary of State Kurt Browning asked the court system to look at those four parts instead. Browning says the four pieces were receiving a lot of public attention and says he thinks the courts are better prepared to give an unbiased answer.
The Department of Justice has pre-cleared the remaining pieces of the law.