Florida gets another legal challenge to new elections rules

[In It to Win It]

AP via Yahoo News

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Two more groups sued Florida over its new restrictive elections laws Monday, adding to a growing chorus of voter rights advocates who say the rules could keep some people from casting ballots.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee by the Fair Elections Center and the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of Head Count and the Harriet Tubman Freedom Fighters.

The suit argues that the new law foments distrust against civic organizations that work to register voters by suggesting that residents use the government's website instead.

The lawsuit is designed to “protect our clients’ right to organize through voter registration activities, communicating their message that our democracy works better when all our voices are heard,” Michelle Kanter Cohen, policy director and senior counsel at Fair Elections Center, said in a statement.

“Voter registration organizations serve their communities by building trusted relationships with Floridians for whom voting and participation may not otherwise be accessible,” she added.

At the core of the complaint is a requirement under the law that third-party voter registration groups use specific language to tell all residents who work with them that they might not submit a voter's application documents in a timely fashion.

The lawsuit contends that the groups are being forced to provide an “inaccurate warning” that is "self-denigrating, misleading, and contradictory" to the mission of the groups.