Florida has passed a bill that shortens early voting and makes it tougher for third parties to register in the state.

The legislation, which Republican leaders said was needed to curb fraud, save money and ensure a more orderly process, will now go to Gov. Rick Scott for his signature.

“We have come a long way since the 2000 elections,” said Senator Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, a Miami Republican who sponsored the bill, referring to Florida’s central role in the disputed presidential tally. “This bill makes the process better, clearer, more transparent, more accessible. It enfranchises voters.”

But Democrats accused Republicans of trying to make it more difficult for voters — particularly Democrats — to cast their ballots and said the bill was unnecessary because reforms put in place after 2000 have largely been successful. Fraud, they said, is minimal: the Florida Department of State referred 31 cases of alleged voter fraud to the Department of Law Enforcement in the past three years.

The bill also includes making it harder to update your registration on election day.

This is part of the GOP pattern; they know they have a tough sell to the non-believer voters based on their platform, so they do anything they can to prevent the people who they know won’t vote for them from voting at all. They use excuses like “massive voter fraud” where none exists and fear-mongering about groups like ACORN that have the temerity to try to get minorities registered to vote.

The only voter fraud that is really rampant in Florida is the gang that got elected on the promise of creating jobs and spent the entire legislative session screwing over the public schools, public employees, and people with uteri.