Sen. Nelson Wants Investigation of New Voting Laws
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
By: Tom Parkinson

Nov. 2, 2011 | WMFE - U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is asking a Senate committee to investigate controversial new election laws in Florida and other states. Nelson, a Florida Democrat, cited recent research showing strict new laws in 14 states could mean as many as 5 million citizens could be denied the vote in 2012. The figures are from a report issued by the Brennan Center in New York.

Senator Nelson said he is working on the state and federal levels to change the new law.
“I have written to Governor Scott and talked to him personally asking him to support the revamping or repeal of this law.” Nelson said. “I have also just asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to conduct a congressional investigation to see if Florida’s law was part of an orchestrated effort that resulted in voting law changes in 14 states thus far this year.”

Nelson, who is running for re-election in 2012, has been critical of Florida’s new voting laws. The new provisions put strict regulations on voter registration drives, reduce the number of early-voting days by half and prohibit voters from changing their names or addresses at the polls.

Proponents of the new voting laws say the measures are necessary to curtail fraud in elections and voter registration efforts.
State records indicate the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated only 31 election fraud cases during the last 4 years.
But supporters of the new law say many voter fraud cases are not reported.