Florida NAACP v. Browning

The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) required that each state create a voter-registration database and that each voter be assigned a distinct number within the database. To comply, when registering to vote, an applicant would provide the last four digits of the prospective voter’s Social Security number or driver’s license number. If an applicant had neither number, the state assigned the individual a unique voter-identification number in the database. Under Florida law, valid voter registration was required for an individual to be eligible to vote. Florida’s voter-registration application required personal information such as name, address, date of birth, and the required driver’s license or last four digits of the applicant’s Social Security number. After creating a registration application, the Florida Department of State verified the driver’s license or Social Security number provided by the appropriate issuing authority. The applicant was notified if the information provided on the voter-registration application could not be verified. If the failure to verify was due to a mistake on the part of the individual applicant, the applicant had to file a new application prior to the closing of the registration period. Individuals who failed to submit an accurate registration before the blackout period were not registered to vote and, therefore, not eligible to vote. The NAACP (plaintiff) sued Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning (defendant), arguing that Florida’s registration-application requirements violated HAVA and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and sought an injunction to prevent the enforcement of Florida’s law prior to the primary election’s book-closing date of January 29, 2008. The district court, holding that the NAACP had standing to sue and would likely succeed on the merits, granted a preliminary injunction. Browning appealed.