Judge strikes down Florida election-law changes
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Saying that “Florida has a grotesque history of racial discrimination,” a federal district judge struck down most of a controversial election law passed in the state last year, and said the state can’t make any major changes to election regulations for the next 10 years unless a judge clears them first.
U.S. District Judge Mark Walker agreed with voters who sued the state that the bill “runs roughshod over the right to vote, unnecessarily making voting harder for all eligible Floridians, unduly burdening disabled voters, and intentionally targeting minority voters — all to improve the electoral prospects of the party in power.”
Walker said that for the next decade, changes to voting laws that affect third-party registration efforts, drop boxes or “line warming” — in which volunteers offer water or chairs to people waiting in line to vote — must be approved first by the court.
“Florida has repeatedly, recently, and persistently acted to deny Black Floridians access to the franchise,” Walker wrote. “This Court also finds that preclearance would prevent future violations.”
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