Tampa, Florida -- U.S Senators were in Tampa Friday for a rare outside-Washington committee hearing. The panel met at Tampa's circuit courthouse to address serious allegations.
Several civil rights groups have complained that Florida's new voting law is an attempt to suppress some people's votes.
Florida is not alone. Several states passed tougher voting laws in the past year. Lawmakers who passed them say they were needed to address voter fraud.
But critics say the intent was far more sinister than that.
"I will vote!" people outside the courthouse shouted loudly. The protests are coming from the very people who feel their voices are being suppressed by Florida's new voting laws. They include young people, minorities, and the elderly.
Gene Watson, one of the protestors, says "that privilege, that right is being denied to too many people."
Counter-protestors say it's not about suppressing people's right to vote. It's about the ability, as Marie Brown put it, "to stop voter fraud."
Florida is one of 14 states to recently pass laws that critics say amount to an orchestrated effort by Republicans to silence groups who often use their vote to elect Democrats.
"And we will not allow mean-spirited, disingenuous, legislative schemes to take it from us!" shouted one man.
Florida's version is House Bill 1355, which was signed by Gov. Rick Scott. The accusations have been strong enough to launch a series of federal hearings. The first of them taking place in Tampa was spear-headed by Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson.
"So no one reached out to you in getting your opinion when this legislation was being considered?" he asked of elections supervisors.
Volusia County's Election Supervisor Ann McFall said not to any real extent. And the idea that the law was needed to combat some rampant dishonesty, she said, is simply false.
"Well, senator it's not because of voter fraud. Because voter fraud is not out there," said McFall.
Florida House Bill 1355, among other things, forces volunteers who register voters to sign up with the state and then submit new voter forms in just 48 hours. It used to be 10 days.
The law threatens big fines, even prison time for those who violate the rules. That's led groups known for registering voters to call it quits, including members of the League of Women voters, several school teachers, and even the Boy Scouts.
The law also reduces the early voting time frame from 14 days to just eight, and eliminates the Sunday before elections. That, say critics, adversely effects the elderly and minorities who often use early voting and prefer to wait for the Sunday before elections to do so.
It also requires those who present a new county address at a polling place be given a type of ballot less likely to be counted -- a provisional ballot. That, say critics, affects young people who tend to move more often, especially for college.
Steve Zeledon, who heads the Hernando County Democratic Committee says, "It's a blatant, outright, undemocratic attempt to suppress the vote for political gain. That's not American."
This is the first of several hearings in several states which have passed similar laws.
Governor Scott was invited to testify, but his staff sent a response saying he would not. The Governor, they say, was spending the day on other issues, and said he would "not explain a law that he did not write."