A UF professor testified about potential voting limitations in a Florida election law before U.S. senators Friday afternoon.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., invited UF political science professor Daniel Smith to testify before the Judiciary Committee.
Smith focused on several amendments, including the shortening of the early voting period from 14 days to eight.
This would eliminate the final Sunday before election day, he said.
Smith said registration conducted by nongovernment groups will be a more difficult process that will include penalties for violations such as turning in late registration forms.
Kathy Kidder, 71, president of the League of Women Voters of Alachua County and Gainesville, said the statewide league is not registering voters "because of these unreasonable requirements."
Smith also said voters who move within Florida counties will still be able to make address changes at the polls on election day but will have to cast provisional ballots.
The number of uncounted provisional ballots could increase among residents such as college students, he said.
Kyle Burns, a 19-year-old political science sophomore, voted early for Tuesday's City of Gainesville election under the new law.
"I think that there's really no reason to pass it, because the whole idea of the bill was to prevent voting fraud," he said. "But the instances of voting fraud, especially in Florida, are few and far-between."
