WASHINGTON (AP) — During the presidential election four years ago, the Equal Ground Education Fund hired more than 100 people to go door-to-door and visit festivals, college homecomings and other events to register voters across Florida. Their efforts in the election this year look very different.
A state law passed last year forced them to stop in-person voter registration, cut staff and significantly reduce funding. Organizers aren’t sure how well their operations will go in the fall.
Genesis Robinson, the group’s interim executive director, said the law has had a “huge impact” on their ability to host events and go into communities to engage directly with potential voters.
“Before all these changes, we were able to operate in a space where we took action, prepared our communities, made sure they were registered to vote – and helped them when they weren’t,” he said.
Florida is one of several states, including Kansas, Missouri and Texas, where Republicans have enacted voting restrictions since 2021 that impose or enhance criminal penalties and fines for those who assist voters. The laws have forced some voter assistance groups to cease operations, while others have greatly altered or scaled back their activities.
Florida state law, signed last May by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, imposes a $50,000 fine on outside voter registration organizations if the employees or volunteers processing or collecting the forms have been convicted of a crime or are not U.S. citizens. It also increased the fines the organizations could face from $1,000 to $250,000 and shortened the deadline for returning registration applications from 14 days to 10.
A federal judge blocked parts of the law earlier this month, including those targeting felons and noncitizens. Even before the ruling, the law had a direct impact on the work of Equal Ground and other voter organizations in the state.
The League of Women Voters in Florida, one of the plaintiffs, has moved away from in-person voter registration and is now relying on digital outreach. Cecile Scoon, the league’s co-president, said the law has destroyed the personal connection between her staff and communities. Digital tools are not simple to apply in voter registration and can be high-priced, she said.
These organizations are necessary because local election officials don’t always provide adequate support and information, said Derby Johnson, an Ormond Beach voter who recently attended an event in Daytona Beach organized by Equal Ground. He said it seems like the Florida Legislature is just trying to make it harder for certain communities to register and vote.
“There are parties that are actively working to suppress voter turnout, especially in black and brown communities, and these groups are helping to educate and register voters to curb that,” she said.
MOVE Texas, a voting rights group that focuses on voters who are 30 years senior or younger, has adapted to the state’s 2021 election reform with additional training for its staff and volunteers. Among the provisions that raised concerns was one that increased criminal penalties for anyone who receives compensation for assisting a voter, which particularly affected the ability to recruit high school and college students for voter registration drives.
“The law has contributed to this culture of fear in our elections and in our ability to register voters as individuals,” said Stephanie Gomez, the group’s political director.
Republicans in Kansas overrode a veto by Democratic Governor Laura Kelly and passed a law making it a crime for someone to impersonate an election official when registering to vote, or to be suspected of doing so.
That forced Loud Light Kansas, a minority-focused voter organization, to halt its registration efforts. Potential voters typically viewed its staff and volunteers as poll workers, even when they were told otherwise, says Anita Alexander, the organization’s vice president.
“We try to engage the people affected, but we didn’t want to take the risk of anyone being sued as a result of our voter engagement work,” she said.
Loud Light and other local voter registration groups have sued the legislature. The Democratic governor said there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the state or cases of individuals impersonating election officials.
In Missouri, the state chapter of the League of Women Voters and the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP filed suit after the state enacted comprehensive voting laws in 2022.
Among other things, the new law prohibits compensation for voter registrars and requires that anyone who helps more than ten people register must also register with the Secretary of State and be a voter themselves. Violations can be prosecuted.
The completed secretary of state forms are public, which poses a privacy issue for many people who would otherwise want to aid with voter registration, said Denise Lieberman, director and general counsel for the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition.
“Historically, once these membership lists are obtained, they have been used to intimidate. So there is a lot of concern, especially with groups that target low-income or communities of color,” she said. “If you want to volunteer just one hour on a Saturday morning to help out on your college campus or on an Earth Day event or wherever, you have to go through this whole process.”
The Missouri law is on hold while the legal battle continues; the trial is scheduled for August.
Voting rights experts expect there will continue to be attempts to restrict voting rights and voter initiative activities in Republican-dominated states, says Megan Bellamy, vice president of law and policy at the Voting Rights Lab.
“Unfortunately, efforts to target third-party voter registration groups are just one of many policy areas that state legislatures are grappling with,” she said.
___
The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. Learn more about the AP Democracy Initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
