I was a Poll Watcher for the Democratic Party here in Sarasota County Florida for the 2004 Presidential Election. I got to my assigned location 45 minutes BEFORE the polls were set to open and had ALL the documentation as to who I was and permission from the County Clerk to check the voting machines before voting was to begin. I was NOT allowed by the clerk to see the machines to verify they were starting with a “zero count”! I was told that IF I approached the machines, I would be arrested! Obviously, Bush won the precinct handily…..

I have a felony conviction from defending myself in my home from an attack. I now have lost the right to vote. I did the time of the sentence and see this as a violation of the 5th Amendment of the Constitution.

I do not have a personal story but this is an absolute outrage. There needs to be a march on this govenor rick scott needs to be thrown out of office and tallahassee needs to be turned upside down and replaced. I would help do that. throw all the bums out of office.

I am a disabled, black woman in a struggling economy. At least let me retain the right to vote. I can remember in the 60’s fighting for changes in the system. Do we have to go backwards now?

I went to renew my driver’s license and found out that I needed my marriage license. I did not have a certified copy and had to send to Miami Dade County with all the information and a self addressed stamped envelope with $9.00 and wait for it to come before I could renew my driver’s licence so I can vote. I have my social security card in my married name, how do they think I got it? This is against women’s rights. Men were born with their name and do not have to do this. They are doing this because they feel more women vote democrat.

I REQUEST THAT THIS MESSAGE TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESSIONAL HEARING RE: VOTER SUPPRESSION IN FLORIDA BE INCLUDED IN THE OFFICIAL RECORD. the voter suppression law is wrong,bad and needs to be struck down now!The republicans are keeping many citizens from exercising their constitutional right to vote! This law makes it harder to register to vote, harder to cast a vote and have it counted. The law passed by the right wing extremists in the florida legislature and signed by “the worst governor ever in florida”-rick scott clearly violates voters rights by suppressing the votes of certain populations…particularly- students/younger voters,minorities,females,and the elderly! This was explained by them “as necessary due to fraud”…which is a LIE according to almost every(if not all) Supv. of Elections in fla.who also said this law made it much harder to vote and not necessary. This law is political only and only to benefit the republicans by attacking mainly the people that may vote democrat. Please overturn/stop this outright attack on voters rights…it should be easier for all to 1)register to vote 2)vote and have it counted..NOT harder for the citizens that aren’t in your party! Please do NOT allow this voter suppression law to exist. thank you J.M.(MIKE) STONE

I was wrongfully convicted of a crime (for political reasons, and because I didn’t take that idiocy seriously) in 2001. Applying to have my rights restored since then have gotten nothing except stupid boilerplate letters. I have since gone to rallies, carried signs, handed out flyers, and collected petitiions, so Crook Scott and his bushiosi-rigged election machines can kiss my revoked single vote *^%@#$%.

My personal story isn’t very personal; it’s about how my Florida tax dollars are misspent. Gov. Scott and the Republican-dominated Legislature claim to be fiscal conservatives, yet destroyed the semi-automated parole process to keep the formerly incarcerated – likely to vote Democratic – away from the polls for a minimum of five years. The revised process costs a fortune to administrate and achieves nothing … except for taking Florida back to Jim Crow days. Florida’s Legislature is now seeking the power to keep some of their actions secret … those that stack elections are capable of absolutely anything.

As a person that has lost a United States Marine (brother) it hurts deeply that the rights he so valently gave his life for is been taken away. We send our military to defend other Counties but our one is being trampled on. IT IS A DISCRACE!!!

My father-in-law is 92 years old and legally blind. He stopped driving years ago. In order to get the Florida ID he had to have a certified copy of his birth certificate. This is usually not a tremendously difficult process but he was born in Massachusetts. When we tried to order his birth certificate on-line we were informed that records from 1919 had not be digitized yet and to order the records from the county where he was born. Upon contacting the records department there, we were advised that they could not mail the records; the records had to be picked up in person. This is RIDICULOUS. Fortunately he still had a niece living in the area who was good enough to get the birth certificate for him. Otherwise it would have meant an airplne or train trip to Massachusetts. Incedently, he has been a registered REPUBLICAN for 71 years!

The Young Democrats at UCF in Orlando canvassed, registered & voted record numbers of young voters in the 2008 elections working for Obama.

The problem was this was Republican Speaker Dean Cannon’s district that they voted in and he wrote a voter suppression bill for young, college students who needed absentee ballots and change of addresses in order to vote.

The bill passed(as most bills) all Republicans against all Democrats in the FloriDUH legislature

I use to sit and listen to my parents and gran parents talk about, The Civil Rights movement and How Jim Crow laws was used to stop them from voting. HB 1355 is a reminder that Jim Crow laws are still active, It’s just more sophisticated now. And they just dress it up in lipstick and a nice dress. It’s still a PIG of a BILL. Lets STOP HB 1355.

I am a proud member of the Florida League of Women Voters and was so saddened when I learned that for the first time in 91 years, voter registration by a local league chapter would be suspended, due to the new voting laws being so restrictive and risky. This is just wrong.

I am a senior citizen, I am Native American, I always vote early to avoid the long lines, I also have had knee surgery which makes it hard to stand in a long line for a long period. By cutting down early voting privileges, it will make it far more difficult for people like me to go vote. This governor is a nightmare and is not only damaging our freedom and rights, he is taking the state of florida down a dangerous and disasterous path to cut benefits to the aged, poor,and young children . I am very angry over this law!

My story is like many older people. We don’t drive and have to pay for a cab or find some equally old friend to drive us to register or to vote.


Governing is suppose to be your job, not RULING.


Changing the rules to tip the scales is dishonest & deceptive and it seems that the modern Republican Party believes it cannot win without cheating.

As a community Advocate I see Voter Suppression working already where I live. A few weeks ago I stopped by the Supervisor of Elections office to pick up some voter registration forms like I always had to give to individuals who attend my church so they could complete and mail in; many of them shared that they had either moved since they last voted, gotten married etc; I was informed that I could no longer pick up applications to give to another unless I was a registered agent with the State of Florida. Not being out done, I’ve since become a registered agent with the State of Florida. That being said I can assure that I am the exception rather the rule.

I move allot. So does my boyfriend but we want our vote to count

To vote in Florida you have to submit a government ID with picture – essentially a driver’s license. To get a Florida Driver’s License now you have to provide all kinds of documentation to prove you are a citizen and to prove your identity. It is difficult for women to prove their address when utility bills and other such acceptable documentation is in their husband’s name. In my case, my husband had to write a note certifying that I lived at my home address. Women who have changed their names upon marriage and/or who have gotten divorced have to submit even more documentation and it can be costly to secure that documentation. HB1355 was legislation drafted by ALEC and it is similar to other voter suppression laws in many other states. It’s a conspiracy. The stated purpose is to rid the state of Florida of voter fraud. Yet there is no documented evidence of widespread voter fraud.

I actually do not have a story to tell, but these attempt to block or reduce considerably the chances to perform the right to vote is the preamble of dictatorial political systems. I have seen how they work. They all go through similar steps to take gradually our freedom. We must react vigorousl, without fear,against that political tirany.