COLUMN
Happytown
The week where Buddy Dyer wrote a rose-colored blog, Rick Scott sold more of his influence and we got to split hairs about the voter purge. The best week ever?
Published: July 18, 2012
Hinkle's decision concluded: "And because, as set out above, such a program could be pursued even within 90 days of an election, there is no reason to believe, at this point, that the secretary will engage in any future violation of the [National Voter Registration Act of 1993]." So not exactly the win for the state that many media outlets – OW included – originally made it out to be. However, we're naturally cynical here at Happytown™, and we can't help but think that there is every reason to believe that the secretary – or anybody else in the current state administration who thinks they can get away with it – would go ahead and violate that NVRA if it'd mean a win for their party in the upcoming federal elections. This is, after all, the same administration that reversed former Gov. Charlie Crist's work to make it easier for people convicted of non-violent felonies to eventually restore their right to vote. As a result, a recent report from the nonprofit Sentencing Project notes, one in five (!) black citizens in the state of Florida can't currently cast a vote, even if they've completely repaid their debt to society. What's another 20 percent or so?
We don't feel so great anymore.
> Email BILLY MANES AND ERIN SULLIVAN
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