Election reform stumbles in Florida

After the election debacle of 2000, Florida hoped it wouldn't be in the news for voting problems again. But then came the 2006 mid-terms and 18,000 disappeared votes in Sarasota County -- and with it, seemingly unstoppable momentum for election reform.

But now, momentum for reform has stalled, with voting reform advocates saying -- in an echo of the national U.S. attorney scandal -- that Republicans are using fears of "election fraud" to push 14 measures that will restrict voter registration and turnout. The Associated Press reports:

An elections bill that would virtually rid the state of touch-screen voting machines and move Florida's presidential primary to late January lost the support of Democrats and voter advocacy groups Tuesday when a Senate committee added measures opponents said would hurt voter registration drives.

What had been a largely bipartisan push to answer Republican Gov. Charlie Crist's call to replace touch-screen voting machines in 15 counties with a verifiable paper-trail system became a 3-2, party-line vote in the Senate Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations committee.

Here are the amendments that the GOP-led committee has been adding to the bill, which originally was focused on creating a voter paper trail:

* One amendment reinforces penalties on third-party voter registration groups when they fail to pass on registration information to elections officials within specified periods of time.

* Another reduces the number of forms of identification that are permissible when showing up to vote.

* A third requires supervisors of elections to provide the Department of State with information such as demographic data and individual vote histories for each precinct within 35 days of an election, which critics say will be used for voter targeting.

Even with the loss of Democratic and public interest group support, the Republican majority is moving forward with the bill.