FL: Voting rights group sue the state over 'flawed' voter registration form

The League of Women Voters of Florida and the Florida State Conference of the NAACP filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday against Florida’s Secretary of State Cord Byrd, claiming that the state’s voter registration application form violates the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).

The groups allege that the form’s lack of information regarding the voter’s eligibility requirements for those with previous criminal convictions “creates confusion, impedes the organizations’ voter registration activities and puts people in danger of criminal penalties,” according to a press release.

In addition, the plaintiffs are calling for the court to declare that the current voter application registration form should be thrown out, and for the state to “convey” the revised application and its content to Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, so that they “may develop a voter registration application that is the same in content, format and size as the uniform statewide uniform voter registration application” as currently prescribed in state law, according to the lawsuit.

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Tallahassee.

Secretary of State Byrd is currently abroad and on an international trade mission with Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Voting rights groups and Democratic lawmakers have said that the state needs to create a database system to inform felons who have completed their sentence but still owe court fines, fees or restitution to determine if they are legally eligible to vote.





https://floridaphoenix.com/blog/voting-rights-group-sue-the-state-over-what-they-claim-is-the-states-flawed-voter-registration-form/