By Lynn Hatter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-967804.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – Less than 48 hours after lawmakers sent an elections overhaul bill to Governor Rick Scott the first calls for legal challenges is coming from the Florida League of Women Voters. Lynn Hatter reports, the non-partisan organization is launching a veto drive and has said if the bill becomes law, it will stop its voter registration drives.
The League of Women Voters says proposed rules on voter registration drives will make it too hard for the organization to continue the activity in Florida. Jessica Lowe-Minor is the state executive director for the League.
"If someone asks us for a voter registration form that they want to take, we'll let them take the form and they can send it in on their own. Under this law, it's unclear on if the person dated the form and never turned it in, or turned it in two weeks, three weeks a month later, would we be liable for that form being turned in late?"
The elections bill fines groups that hold registration drives for late returns of voter forms. In 2005 the organization won a case against the state over a different bill that tried to impose similar penalties. The League says if the bill becomes law, a lawsuit could follow.