New Republican-backed laws in several states add large fines or criminal penalties for minor mistakes in voter registration work. As groups pull back, they're reaching fewer voters.
Poder Latinx canvasser Humberto Orjuela helps Andres Navarro register to vote in a Presidente Supermarket parking lot in Orlando on April 20. New restrictions in Florida have made voter registration work more difficult for Poder Latinx and other third-party groups.
In Florida, state legislators in 2022 upped the maximum fine a voter registration group could receive from $1,000 to $50,000. The next year, they boosted it again to $250,000. They also limited how and where organizations can return forms, and barred non-U.S. citizens and people with certain felonies from doing the work.
Republican legislators in Florida cite concerns about fraud and trust in elections as reasons for the new restrictions. Voter registration groups have missed deadlines for returning applications in some cases, leaving potential voters ineligible for upcoming elections. And six canvassers were arrested in April 2023 after allegedly falsifying 58 voter registration applications in two counties.
And Republicans elsewhere are seeking to limit this form of voter outreach. Legislators in at least seven states considered bills this year, according to data from the Voting Rights Lab. The proposed legislation sought to erect new barriers to voter registration drives, create new criminal penalties or, in the case of Indiana, make such drives illegal entirely.
"Ah, Trump!" she responded with a laugh."Eres Republicana," Orjuela noted. He helped Rivera finish the paperwork, and the two sisters climbed in their red Dodge Charger and drove off.Wilmarie Rivera registers to vote with Humberto Orjuela of Poder Latinx outside the Presidente Supermarket. But Orjuela said he was concerned about Florida's law."It's a law that seems unjust to me, because if one has the right to work, well, one should be able to exercise that right. It shouldn't come with so many limitations," he said.
In a statement, Department of State spokesperson Mark Ard said that"Floridians put a great deal of trust in to ensure that their voter registration applications are submitted to the appropriate Supervisors of Elections in a timely manner. However, that is unfortunately not always the case."that issues with these groups"have plagued the state for years.
"Not every individual is the same. Not every individual has the same opportunities to register or re-register. They have various types of barriers. Maybe it's transportation, maybe it's information, maybe it's concern about health, maybe it's financial," he said."3PVROs really fill the gap." Scott, a Democrat, said Broward County has seen"a dramatic decrease" in voters registering through drives since SB 7050 became law. That echoes a statewide trend. Just 3,860 Floridians registered through drives in the first three months of 2024. During the same time frame in the last presidential election year, 40,963 voters did so.Bracy is a longtime civil rights activist.
Bracy fears the new laws mean Faith in Florida will reach many fewer voters, including senior citizens who may struggle with the state's online registration system. Youth registration in Idaho soared in recent years, growing faster between 2018 and 2022 than in any other state, according to a Tufts University
In Missouri and Kansas, new laws triggered concern among voter registration groups that their work risked criminal penalties. "So we couldn't register voters on the anniversary of young people getting the right to vote," he said. The law also requires people who solicit more than 10 applications to be registered to vote with the state, freezing out Missourians whose felony sentences bar them from casting ballots.
"What people understood from the beginning was that there was a role for groups to be engaged in helping people clear that hurdle," said Joshua Douglas, a law professor at the University of Kentucky.Drives gained force during eras when the franchise expanded."The big pushes for voter registration were women's suffrage, the Civil Rights movement," he said.
Oliver, a Democrat, was elected to the state Senate in 2022. This year, she watched the introduction of new legislation restricting such drives. Several of the provisions echo Florida's recent laws, including requiring groups to provide a receipt, establishing fines and barring people with certain felonies from doing the work.
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