Florida (10.19.04)

In AFL-CIO v. Glenda Hood (no. 04-1921) yesterday, the Supreme Court of Florida upheld a Florida law that says provisional ballots must be cast in a voter’s home precinct. The AFL-CIO contended that the precinct-specific provision was an unnecessary restriction on the right to vote, in violation of the Florida constitution. State officials argued that under the Florida constitution, the legislature is authorized to impose reasonable and necessary regulations on the “place” at which an elector may cast his or her vote. The court sided with the state, finding that requiring provisional ballots to be cast in a voter’s home precinct is not an “[u]nreasonable or unnecessary restraint[] on the elective process.”

The St. Petersburg Times has a report here, the Tallahassee Democrat reports here, and the Miami Herald reports here. The Los Angeles Times covered the decision here. The blawg Abstract Appeal has more on the case here.