More State Election Changes

DC Board of Elections Urging All District Voters to Request Absentee Ballots for June 2nd Primary

As the calendar flipped from March to April, marking Two months until the last Major Multi-state wave of Primaries and Caucuses, the Washington, DC Board of Elections began encouraging Voters in the District to Request Absentee Ballots ahead of the June 2nd Primary. This is a Less Proactive approach to alternative methods of Voting in the wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Some States like Maryland have tentatively opted to Mail All Voters an Absentee Ballot, while other States like Nebraska and West Virginia have decided to Mail Application for Absentee Ballots only to Active Voters.

The DC encouragement is much less far-reaching at this point. That could change over time as June 2nd approaches and the Coronavirus Situation evolves.

Florida - Settles Voting Rights Suit Over Student Voting: in 2018 a Federal Court Case struck down the Florida Secretary of State’s Ban on Early Voting Sites being located on College Campuses, while allowing them in any other Government Building. The Court held that the State’s Policy Violated the 26th Amendment by Discriminating against Young Voters. It resulted in 57,639 College Students Voting Early on their Campuses.

Last Summer, the Florida Legislature Passed a New Law aimed at Preventing Early Voting Site on College Campuses. They added a New Requirement that any Early Voting Locations must “provide sufficient non-permitted parking to accommodate the anticipated amount of voters.” They did this because during the First Lawsuit, the Florida Secretary of State repeatedly cited Limited Parking as an Excuse for the Prohibition for On-Campus Early Voting, claiming it was the Lack of Non-Permitted On-Campus Parking, rather than an intent to Discriminate against Young Voters, that Motivated the Secretary’s Position that the University of Florida’s Reitz Student Union and other On-Campus Locations like it were Inappropriate for Early Voting.

The Court Found that the Secretary’s Stated Interest in “alleviating parking difficulties that an on-campus early voting site might create” by Prohibiting On-Campus Early Voting, “is neither precise nor sufficiently weighty” to Justify the Prohibition.

As one part of that Settlement, the Florida Secretary of State issued a New Directive interpreting the New Law. It reads, in part:

Finally, the Secretary clarifies that to the extent any supervisor of elections interpreted prior directives from the Division of Elections that related to Reitz Union as indicating that buildings such as student unions are not appropriate sites for early voting, those directives are withdrawn in their entirety. There is nothing in Florida law that prohibits the use of on-campus sites for early voting, provided that the requirements of Section 101.657(1)(a) are otherwise met.

In sum, Section 101.657(1)(a) should be read to permit supervisors of elections to place early voting sites on college and university campuses, consistent with the purpose of each county having a network or combination of early voting sites placed so as to provide all voters in the county an equal opportunity to cast a ballot. Further, the Non-Permitted Parking Language emphasized in paragraph 4 above is a matter properly considered in light of the surrounding population of voters anticipated to use a particular early voting site and the availability of Non-Permitted parking at other early voting sites in the county that may be used by voters who travel to the polls by car.

Puerto Rico - Democratic Party President, Charles Rodriguez, on Thursday, April 2nd, announced that the Newly scheduled April 26th Presidential Primary would be Delayed Indefinitely amid the growing threat posed by the Coronavirus.

Late last month Legislation to move the Island Territory's Democratic Primary from the End of March to the End of April Passed and was signed into Law. But layered into that Bill was a contingency to shift the Primary later on the Calendar if there was a need. The State Elections Commission was given the Authority to make the Change in Consultation with the Democratic Party in Puerto Rico.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker