Florida’s new voter-identification law leaves me … speechless.*

The new Florida [voter-identification] law requires that voter registration drives be conducted by third-party groups that are certified by the state and requires the groups to account for all forms that are checked out from the election division. Those rules are the centerpiece of a training effort this weekend by the Obama for America staff in the state.

— “Obama Campaign Confronts Voter ID Laws,” Michael D. Shear, New York Times, today

Wow.  Is it just me, or is it hard for you, too, to imagine a clearer violation of the First Amendment? I’d never heard of this law before, and I don’t know how long ago it was passed and what stage the court challenge to it is at, but …. yikes.

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*POSTSCRIPT: Just imagine how quickly the Supreme Court would strike down as a First Amendment violation a similar requirement pertaining to petition drives to get candidates’ names on the ballot or to get a voter initiative (e.g., of the sort that the rightwing is so fond of) on the ballot.