Florida Governor Rick Scott is strategically setting up the state of Florida for a finish to the 2012 election that resembles the decision at the end to the Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley fight.
The fight's outcome was so bogus that even Bradley (the proclaimed winner) was shocked. Scott's blatant voter suppression and disenfranchisement campaign is geared toward generating an election outcome that is as unfair as the Bradley decision.
Scott opened up the fight by dealing a serious blow to citizens who had a felony conviction and have already paid their debt to society by making it significantly harder for them to vote by forcing them to wait at least five years before they can even apply have to have their rights restored. This coincides with the unprecedented mass incarceration of Black and Hispanic Americans that has taken place in recent decades. It is of considerable importance that the majority of these disenfranchised former felons are likely to vote for Democratic Party candidates.
Scott continued his barrage of punches on voter turnout by placing burdensome restrictions on organizations such as the League of Women Voters who have operated voter registration drives in the state for years. Several of these organizations pulled out of the state due to the threat of large fines for not submitting voter applications within 48 hours of their receipt to a registration office. This ridiculous rule was recently struck down in Federal court. Scott attempted to land a solid left and right hook to Democratic turnout by shortening the early voting period from 14 to 8 days and by barring registration on the Sunday before the election when black churches traditionally push their parishioners to the polls in large numbers.
The governor's latest efforts to purge around 180,000 names from voter rolls represents potent body blows aimed a scoring a technical knockout before the fight even reaches a decision. Citizens interested in maintaining the legitimacy of the 1965 Voting Rights Act must continue to keep the pressure on Scott and not become complacent. If you let an inferior opponent in Pacquiao's case or unjust laws in Florida's case hang around for the duration then you might end up with an unfair and arbitrary decision outcome. Let's not let the electoral reenactment of the Pacquiao-Bradley fight take place in the Sunshine State.