(page last updated July 21, 2008 at 9:07 AM)
All Courts: United States District Court, Southern District of Florida (Case 06-21265-CIV-JORDAN); United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit (Case 06-14836-DD)
Topic(s): Voter Registration
State:
Date Filed: May 18, 2006
Issue: Whether regulations imposing fines on nonpartisan voter registration groups, but not on the state's political parties, for mishandling of voter registration applications violates the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Status: Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction granted as to counts I, II, and III; Defendant's Motion to dismiss granted as to Count IV. Appellant Brief filed 10/26/06. Appellee Brief filed 12/4/06. Appellant's Reply Brief filed 12/29/06. Case submitted without argument (9/26/07). Motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction filed 4/3/08 and granted 4/24/08 because the laws being challenged by the suit were changed.
In this case Plaintiffs, private groups and an individual member of the League of Women Voters who wish to register citizens to vote, are challenging Florida's new regulations regarding the registration of voters, Fla. Stat. §§ 97.021(36) and 97.0575, as they claim these regulations impose overly burdensome fines and reporting requirements on all organizations, except the state's political parties, who wish to register people to vote. Any person or organization that violates these regulations is held strictly liable for the fines incurred; Plaintiffs allege that these fines are overly burdensome as they impose fines for even minor errors that may be beyond the organization's control and may force low income organizations into bankruptcy for such errors. Additionally, it is claimed that these regulations are discriminatory (they do not apply to the state's political parties and they disproportionately harm minority citizens that rely on nonpartisan organizations to register to vote) and are unjustified (there is no evidence that nonpartisan groups are more likely to mishandle voter registration applications; in fact, there is evidence to suggest that nonpartisan groups have more reliable procedures in place than the state political parties for handling voter registration applications).
As Plaintiffs claim these regulations impose overly burdensome fines and are discriminatory and unjustified, they are seeking a declaration that these regulations violate the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, both facially and as applied to Plaintiffs. They are also seeking an injunction preventing the enforcement of these voter registration laws.