Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, announced Thursday he will host a hearing on the impact of Florida's controversial new election law in Tampa on Friday, January 27 at the Hillsborough County Courthouse.
Florida U.S. Senator Bill Nelson announced last month that such a hearing would take place in January, but the site was not confirmed until today.
Florida's GOP-led Legislature passed and Governor Rick Scott signed into law last year the election bill that reduces the amount of early voting days from 14 to 8, and adds administrative features that state Democrats (and some moderate Republicans) say will hurt participation at the polls later this year.
Nelson, who will be on the ballot for re-election this November, says that there are a number of states "including Florida (that) have made it harder for some people to vote. We want to know why this is happening."
