http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/orl-nomatch1708oct17,0,1499429.storyIn Orange County: Lessons in voter rejectionFlorida's 'no match, no vote' law kicks back registrations -- mostly near UCF and RollinsMary Shanklin And Aaron Deslatte | Sentinel Staff Writers
October 17, 2008
Stories of rejected voter registrations have focused on fraudulent applications submitted by liberal grass-roots organizations — and even one filed by " Mickey Mouse" in Central Florida. But in Orange County, who are the most likely to be kept off the rolls? College students.
Newly released records obtained by the Orlando Sentinel show that areas around the University of Central Florida and Rollins College are where the most voter registrations were rejected. Many had predicted that locally, minority precincts with strong voter drives would face the greatest registration problems. In fact, registration applications from college areas are being kicked out because of mismatched IDs under Florida's controversial "No match, no vote" measure. The law, which took effect Sept.8, calls for drivers-license and Social Security numbers to match those in government databases.
Not only is students' handwriting "horrible," said Orange County Supervisor of Elections administrator Margaret Dunn, the office also has a more difficult time matching IDs when applicants have out-of-state drivers licenses and officials have to rely on matching Social Security numbers instead. Records from the Orange County elections office don't include everyone who registered by the Oct.6 deadline, but they indicate which groups might have trouble casting regular ballots Nov.4.
Though 46 percent of the 846 rejected Orange County residents were Democrats, only 9 percent were Republicans, and the rest generally had no party affiliation. Those numbers generally reflect statewide data obtained by the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday showing 8,867 would-be voters whose registrations remained unresolved.In addition, more than a third rejected in Orange County were Hispanic, which is double the proportion of Hispanic residents.