TALLAHASSEE, Fla., April 16 (UPI) -- Florida's GOP-led Legislature is proposing changes to election laws viewed by critics as an effort to maintain party dominance.
A bill that passed the Senate Rules Committee Friday would make it harder for grassroots groups to register voters and force those voters who have recently moved to vote on a provisional basis. It would curtail early voting by one week, which is touted as a way to save money.
But critics aren't buying the assertion the changes are simply to provide for less expensive voting machines and make it easier to obtain absentee ballots, as purported, The Miami Herald reported Saturday.
Those opposed to the bill say college students would be affected most and that the changes show an interest in hampering President Obama's chances of winning the strategically important state's 29 electoral votes as he seeks re-election.
Also, all 160 legislative seats will be open in 2012, as the result of redistricting, the newspaper reported.
