By Lynn Hatter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-991621.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – The path to fully clearing Florida's new voting law hit a roadblock Friday when a federal court refused to speed up its review process. The state has four counties where any changes to voting laws have to be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice. Lynn Hatter has more.
First Florida waited several weeks after the law passed to send it to the Department of Justice for Review. Then it withdrew its request, waited several more weeks, and re-submitted it. The court also questioned Florida's decision to bump up its presidential primary date. Derek Newton is the spokesman for the Florida ACLU.
"The state has chosen to play legal games instead of seek many opportunities they had to address this properly. Those games have now put the state in a position where we don't know what the outcome will be, legal challenges, contested elections but it's certainly not good."
That means if things remain as they are, Florida will have two sets of voting rules in place in 2012. The new voting law cuts down on the number of early voting days, stops people from changing their addresses on Election Day and puts tighter regulations on voter registration drives.