"Why does Scottdemort hate poor voters?" (photo courtesy of Jim White)

Pouting Baby is talking to us again.  –  JW

Earlier this week, Senator Astronaut and some of his friends warned Scottdemort that they don’t like a bill the Republicans in the Florida legislature wrote because it looks like it makes it harder for poor people to vote.  They even are asking the Justice Department to investigate if it becomes law:

The U.S. Department of Justice will “carefully consider” changes to Florida’s elections laws under a bill Gov. Rick Scott is expected to sign into law this week.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson complained to the feds before the bill was passed that the measure would impose severe restrictions on Floridians’ voting rights. Democrats are convinced the measure is aimed at suppressing Democratic votes in next year’s presidential election in the swing state considered crucial by both parties.

It was really a big surprise this morning then, when Scottdemort made it sound like he wouldn’t sign the bill:

The Miami Herald caught up with Gov. Rick Scott, who was in South Florida for a hurricane conference. Asked about a controversial rewrite of the state’s election laws, he said basically the same thing he’s been saying for the past several days: he doesn’t want fraud, but he does want people to vote.

He elaborated a bit:

I hate poor voters!

I’m not going to sign a bill that I believe discourages people from voting. I want people to vote. I know what it’s like to run for office, and it’s important that people vote. We all took civics class in ninth grade and part of it is this is a great country. We get to vote and we get to take our positions and I want people to vote. 

But it turns out Scottdemort was lying. This afternoon, he signed the bill:

Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday signed a controversial overhaul of the election laws that Republicans say is needed to prevent voter fraud and Democrats call a cynical act of partisanship to improve GOP chances in Florida next year.

Scottdemort claims he is trying to stop fraud, but fraud of the sort he is talking about doesn’t happen in Florida:

But election supervisors, who run elections in Florida, say the state’s voter registration database is highly accurate and warn Scott that the changes could cause chaos and confusion at the polls next year. The League of Women Voters says it will suspend voter-registration activity in Florida because the bill requires such groups to register with the state and face fines of up to $1,000 for mistakes.

Scottdemort was warned by Floridians that this bill is wrong, but he showed he doesn’t care about what anyone says when he signed the bill:

Scott’s office reported 15,443 e-mails, calls and letters through May 12, and a notation by Scott’s staff said: “Majority oppose. Urging Governor to veto these bills because they change our voting laws, making it more difficult for some voters to cast their vote.”

What the staff meant by “some voters” is mostly poor voters, minority voters and Democrats in general:

The new law will force voters to cast provisional ballots if they change their address at the polling place, make it harder for third-party groups to register voters and shorten early voting days. Nelson asked U.S. Attorney Eric Holder’s office to investigate the elections changes. Five counties in Florida remain under federal scrutiny because of discrimination against minority voters decades ago.

Critics, including the Florida League of Women Voters, Democrats and the ACLU, contend the GOP-dominated legislature pushed the bill through to make it harder for Democrats to get registered to vote and cast their ballots in next year’s presidential election, considered a must-win by both parties.

Why does Scottdemort hate poor voters?