By: Shane Holman, Staff Writer
Last November thousands of voters in Florida waited for hours to cast their vote for the elected offices on the ballot from president to school board members. Many voters expressed feelings of outrage, disgust, and concern over this continued voting traffic jam. Voter ID, registration status, and precinct vote location were some of the main issues of confusion at polls.
In the 2012 election, the national media filled with discussion on voter ID laws and the controversies surrounding them. Voter ID laws commonly are aimed at college students and seniors. Some laws require college students to produce an ID other than that issued from their college. Other laws prevent students from voting at the precinct local to the college. Senior citizens who no longer drive are also impacted. The specifics of the proposed laws vary year to year; however, the aims of the bills remain the same.
As college students these laws are designed to impact your role as a voter, and civic engagement urges you to stay informed. House Bill 1355 is a recent example of such legislation which contains provisions on limiting early voting hours, restricting third party voter registration, and increasing usage of provisional ballots according to Florida House of Representatives Bill tracking.
For the 2013 FL Legislative Session, Senator Jeff Clemens of Lake Worth filed a bill proposing automatic registration of voters labeled Senate Bill 234 (SB 234). It is designed to register all eligible adults as voters according to a Jan. 9 press release from the Senate Minority Office. Additionally, The Tampa Tribune reports that Senator Weatherford (R) and Senator Gaetz (R) both have made efforts working toward election reform measures for the upcoming session. Sen. Weatherford has proposed a new subcommittee on ethics and elections that Sen. Gaetz will head dealing with these policy matters.
Furthermore, HB 1355 of 2011 has been nearly unanimously agreed upon that it needs some revision. The debate is on what is to be revised, and how far to go. Senate President Gaetz (R) offered his thoughts on the reform process in The Tampa Tribune; “The only 10 laws that were divinely inspired and could never need any amendment came down from the mountain with Moses.”
The future of voter registration procedures, voting day policies, and early voting will be in the hands of the Florida State Legislature in the 2013 session. Legislators rely a great deal on feedback from constituents in their district, so students can let them them know about their voting experiences and what they can do to create an improved electoral process. Make a phone call, vote in a poll on a legislators website, or send an email. Most legislators will accept at least one of these methods. Save the letter and check back in six months to see how they voted and follow up.
