Opinion ID: 78001
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Subsection 6 Violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Text: Subsection 6 also violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. When a state adopts an electoral system, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees qualified voters a substantive right to participate equally with other qualified voters in the electoral process. Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 566, 84 S.Ct. 1362, 12 L.Ed.2d 506 (1964); see also Harper v. Va. Bd. of Elections, 383 U.S. 663, 665, 86 S.Ct. 1079, 16 L.Ed.2d 169 (1966). In any state-adopted electoral scheme, [t]he right to vote is protected in more than the initial allocation of the franchise. Equal protection applies as well to the manner of its exercise. Having once granted the right to vote on equal terms, the State may not, by later arbitrary and disparate treatment, value one person's vote over that of another. Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98, 104-05, 121 S.Ct. 525, 148 L.Ed.2d 388 (2000); see also Davis v. Bandemer, 478 U.S. 109, 124, 106 S.Ct. 2797, 92 L.Ed.2d 85 (1986) (noting that everyone [has] the right to vote and to have his vote counted). Having granted its citizens the right to vote, Florida must not only allow qualified voters to participate equally in elections, it must also ensure that qualified voters are given an equal opportunity to participate in elections. Holt Civic Club v. Tuscaloosa, 439 U.S. 60, 81, 99 S.Ct. 383, 58 L.Ed.2d 292 (1978) (Brennan, J., dissenting) (quoting Hadley v. Junior Coll. Dist., 397 U.S. 50, 56, 90 S.Ct. 791, 25 L.Ed.2d 45 (1970)). Despite this constitutional mandate, Florida's matching scheme results in the arbitrary and disparate treatment of its citizens based on their county of residence. It is well-established that when a state accords arbitrary and disparate treatment to voters in different counties, which results in their votes being weighed differently, those voters are deprived of their constitutional rights to due process and equal protection. Bush, 531 U.S. at 107, 121 S.Ct. 525 (citing Gray v. Sanders, 372 U.S. 368, 379-80, 83 S.Ct. 801, 9 L.Ed.2d 821 (1963); Moore v. Ogilvie, 394 U.S. 814, 819, 89 S.Ct. 1493, 23 L.Ed.2d 1 (1969)). Florida's registration scheme is not a process with sufficient guarantees of equal treatment because it is completely devoid of specific standards to ensure that the right to vote is available equally to all potential voters. See id. at 105-07, 121 S.Ct. 525 (finding that Florida's recount mechanisms to discern the intent of the voter were arbitrary as the state lacked specific standards to ensure their equal application). From the lack of a procedure to discern whether the state or the applicant herself committed a matching error, to the differing notices and processes to correct unmatched applications, Florida's matching scheme is subject to disparate implementation among Florida's sixty-seven counties. Even if Subsection 6 mandated uniform notice and methods for determining to whom a mistake is attributable, Florida's matching scheme would still result in uneven treatment of voters within counties. Without the requisite post-non-match safeguards in place to ensure the non-arbitrary treatment of its voters, Florida's matching scheme stands as an unnecessary, additional barrier to registration, resulting in systemic errors as to applicants' eligibility and thereby creating unequal opportunities for Florida citizens to vote. Indeed, this conclusion is reinforced by the fact that this error-prone system has resulted in a strong statistical likelihood that the registration process will be substantially more difficult for a minority voter than for a non-minority voter. [27] Subsection 6's disproportionate impact on minorities cannot be disregarded in assessing the scheme's constitutionality.