Florida's new elections bill passed by the GOP led Legislature and signed by Governor Rick Scott earlier this year contains such onerous provisions that it led the League of Women Voters to throw up their hands and say they will not work over the next year to register new voters.
That's because the new law has dramatically made it more difficult for third party groups like the League to turn in registration forms to supervisor of elections offices in time. The new law extends that period of time from two weeks to 48 hours, or such groups could face penalties ranging up to $1,000.
But the Hillsborough County Young Democrats say they'll attempt to fill that void, and today they filed to become a third party registrant in Florida to register voters. The leader of the that group, Tim Heberlein, is nothing if not ambitious. He says his group's goal is to register 20,000 people by the fall of 2012.
This article appears in Jul 14-20, 2011.