Before Governor Rick Scott signed the elections bill HB 1355, officials with the Florida League of Women Voters said that they were prepared after 72 years to cease doing voter registration in the state of Florida. That's because of one provision under that law that says that volunteers must return any voter registration cards they collect to elections officials within 48 hours or face a fine, which League officials say would be virtually impossible to adhere to.
That are other provisions in the bill (such as reducing the hours of early voting and making it harder to vote if you've changed your address) that have prompted the Florida ACLU to go to federal court to try to block it from taking effect.
But until the federal courts rule, HB135 is the law of the land in Florida, and LWV officials in Hillsborough County want to inform the public about it, and thus they'll be hosting a breakfast meeting a week from this Saturday, June 18, featuring Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Earl Lennard to discuss the bill.
This article appears in Jun 9-15, 2011.