DARA KAM, POST ON POLITICS via PALM BEACH POST
Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson will lead a series of rallies tonight and tomorrow in Florida challenging the state’s new election law.
The ACLU and others have filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Rick Scott‘s administration over the elections overhaul, one of at least seven lawsuits prompted by the first-term governor’s actions and laws passed by the GOP-dominated legislature this session.
Jackson will participate in a rally in Orlando this evening, a workshop in Eatonville tomorrow morning and a rally and meeting in Tampa tomorrow night.
Critics of the new law, including the League of Women Voters, say it is designed to make registering to vote and casting ballots more difficult for minorities and low-income voters, who typically vote Democratic.
The law imposes strict regulation of third-party registration groups, including requiring that they turn in registration forms within 48 hours after they are signed. Minority and low-income voters are more likely to register through the third-party groups, said Washington-based Project Vote lawyer Estelle Rogers.
The lawsuit asks a federal judge to block the new law from going into effect until federal officials sign off on it, a requirement because five counties in Florida require “preclearance” from the Justice Department before changes to elections can go into effect.
Scott last week asked to be removed from the lawsuit.
Read the original Palm Beach Post blog entry here.