Representative Mark Pafford’s Letter to U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Regarding Florida's Voter Suppression Law
The Honorable Dick Durbin, Chair
U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights & Human Rights
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senators:
I filed House Bill 1189 for the 2012 Florida Legislative Session in hopes of reversing the harsh restrictions on voting imposed under a voter suppression law approved by the Republican-led Legislature in 2011. I believe many of the changes imposed under the voter suppression law will bring great harm to minorities in this state and make it considerably more difficult for others to cast their votes. On behalf of the citizens of Florida, I commend you for fulfilling the request made by Senator Bill Nelson to hold field hearings on the issue of voting suppression.
An analysis of election records has shown that 1.1 million black voters participated in Florida's general election in 2008. More than half of those votes were cast prior to Election Day at early-voting sites. Comparably, just one-fourth of all white voters used early voting, and roughly one-third of Hispanic voters participated in early voting in that historic election.
On the final Sunday before the 2008 presidential election, black voters accounted for 32 percent of the daily early voting turnout in Florida. The changes made in last year's voter suppression law would reduce the number of days of early voting and would eliminate the Sunday before election day as an early voting day.
Also of grave concern to me, the Republican-led Legislature's move to reduce the number of days that third-party voter registration organizations have to submit completed applications will also be detrimental to minorities. In Florida, 15 percent of Hispanics and nearly 20 percent of African Americans registered to vote through registration drives in Florida in 2008, compared to 6 percent of whites.
The move to eliminate the ability to complete a change of address form at the polls will also hurt minorities. According to an estimate based on 2008 election figures, nearly 34,000 additional Florida voters will now be required to cast provisional ballots. Because minorities have higher mobility and foreclosure rates than whites, they are the voters most likely to move and will likely be disproportionately forced to cast a provisional ballot under the new law.
According to the Pew Research Center, 43 percent of African Americans and 48 percent of Latinos moved during the previous five years, as compared to only 27 percent of whites. African Americans and Hispanics similarly report a higher likelihood of moving within the next five years. Many individuals have also been forced to move in the wake of the foreclosure crisis, which has disproportionately impacted minorities. The decline in homeownership rates among African Americans and Latinos in recent years is almost twice that of whites. The likely increase under the voter suppression law of greater reliance on provisional ballots among minorities is troubling because provisional ballots are often not counted. For instance, during the 2008 elections, fewer than half (only 48.59%) of all provisional ballots cast in Florida were actually counted.
The consequences of the voter suppression law are great. Therefore, I am proud to support House Bill 1189 this year as a measure to restore confidence in our elections and to ensure that every vote counts.
With kind regards, I am,
Sincerely,
MARK PAFFORD
State Representative
District 88
cc: U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Perry Thurston, Florida House of Representatives, District 93
Be the first to rate this post
- Currently 0/5 Stars.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5