Florida: Some new voters will be shut out under "no match, no vote" law

[Hope And Change]

Some new voters will be shut out under "no match, no vote" law

By Alex Leary, Times Staff Writer

In print: Saturday, October 11, 2008

TALLAHASSEE — More voters than ever are expected at Florida polls Nov. 4, but a newly enforced state law could thwart thousands from having their vote count.

State election officials have notified more than 800 people in the Tampa Bay area and a total of 10,400 statewide who recently signed up to vote that they aren't yet qualified because of discrepancies between their signup forms and state records.

The would-be voters must clear up the discrepancies or their vote on Election Day won't count.

The state's "no match, no vote" law, enforced for roughly a month, has ensnared people like Eckerd College senior Brittany Reynolds.

The 20-year-old art major said she is so busy she could barely glance at the letter she got this week, let alone fax a photocopy of her driver's license to the Pinellas County elections office.

"It's a real bummer," Reynolds said. "I did want to be a part of the election."


more...

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/state/article847368.ece

[PermanentRevolution]

1. No offense to Brittany Reynolds...

But I refuse to believe that, if she actually cared that much about being a part of this election, she couldn't find 5 minutes to photocopy her drivers' license and fax it in.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

2. Finding the hour or so that would actually take, however, might be harder.

Dealing with paperwork like that almost always takes a lot longer than you'd think.

[1corona4u]

4. I'd find the hour...if I had to walk to Kinkos, over broken glass

to make sure my vote counted.

[PermanentRevolution]

6. Perhaps. Maybe I'm being too hard on her.

But I don't remember any time in college when I didn't have at least a few hours free time a week to do something if I felt strongly enough about it. It just struck me as the usual cry of the apathetic young voter, who wants to be involved as long as it doesn't require any personal commitment.

[1corona4u]

3. Yeah, exactly.....

[stillcool]

5. She thought she was not going to be ..

able to vote, but she can, although she doesn't seem very enthusiastic

Reynolds, the college student, thought she was shut out. But she isn't.

"Awesome," Reynolds said when told how she could still qualify to vote. "I'll have to see what classes I have on Election Day, but I'd love to vote.

[justgamma]

7. I'll never forget the student who, in 2004,

when she didn't get her absentee ballot in the mail, hopped in her car with a friend and drove all night to be able to vote. She drove from Boston to Iowa City, voted and left for home that night. This is dedication.