Early voting in the January 31 GOP presidential primary has begun — in Hillsborough County, at least.
Polls opened on MLK Jr. Day at 15 locations across Hillsborough County, one of five counties in the state not abiding by the controversial new state elections law that reduces the days of early voting from 14 days to 8 (the other counties are Collier, Hardee, Hendry and Monroe).
Ironically, these five counties don't have to obey the new state law because they're still restricted by the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. Established to ensure that regions with historical voter rights problems do not enact laws that stifle minority access, the Justice Department has to review any changes in their election laws, even state-imposed changes, in what is known as "pre-clearance."
Meanwhile, the local media is doing everything it can to hype up the January 31 primary.
On Sunday, the Tampa Tribune headline read, "Florida win would seal deal for Romney," while in Monday's Tampa Bay Times, the paper's political editor Adam C. Smith's story is headlined "Why Florida matters more."
Let's examine these headlines a little more closely.
This article appears in Jan 12-18, 2012.