State Voter Purge List Shrinks, Agreement Reached

September 13, 2012

A controversial list of 2,600 allegedly illegal voters has been whittled to 207, Florida election officials said Wednesday after running the names through a federal immigration database.

Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner said the names, about 8 percent of the initial list, will be forwarded to local election officials as early as next week.

The revised list was released the same day as an agreement was announced between the state and voting rights groups over efforts to remove non-citizens and other ineligible voters from the ranks.

“We want every Florida voter to be confident that their vote is protected and not hurt in any way by the illegal activity of others,” Detzner said in a statement. “We know that every vote counts, especially here in Florida where only 537 votes decided the presidential election in 2000.”

Wednesday’s announcement marks the latest development in a months-long battle between voting rights advocates, state and federal elections officials over Republican-led efforts to cull the ranks of voters and eliminate those not eligible to cast ballots.

Voting groups, which filed suit in federal court to stop the purge, said the new agreement would help prevent the targeting of minorities, who disproportionately turned up on earlier lists of questionable voters.

“The citizens of Florida have taken another step toward realizing the right to vote, without any undue barriers imposed by the state,” said Penda Hair, co-director of Advancement Project, a plaintiff in the case.

At Gov. Rick Scott’s urging, state election officials last year began looking at whether ineligible voters were showing up in the rolls.

To find out, the state began comparing voting rolls with drivers-license data, coming up with an initial list of 2,600 names it sent to local officials earlier this year. Election supervisors suspended the purge after it became clear that eligible voters were incorrectly included in the non-voter list.

At the center of the controversy was a request by Florida officials to access a federal Department of Homeland Security database that tracks the status of non-citizens. State election officials filed suit to use the system to more accurately determine the status of registered voters.

Under the agreement penned Wednesday, state officials will advise local election supervisors to return to the rolls voters who were removed earlier but can’t be confirmed as non-citizens. Voters who were incorrectly removed from the rolls will receive letters telling them they are indeed eligible to vote.

Also, voters whose names turned up on earlier lists would not be required to vote by provisional ballot.

“Any number of people who are registered to vote and who are not eligible is a serious problem, whether that number is two or 207,” said Howard Simon, executive director of ACLU of Florida, in a statement. “But given the less-than-competent record of state officials in voter purging over the years, Floridians would be right to be skeptical of anything coming from this current purge.”

By The News Service of Florida

Comments

7 Responses to “State Voter Purge List Shrinks, Agreement Reached”

  1. David Huie Green on September 13th, 2012 12:30 pm

    REGARDING:
    “Awful lot of money spent to stop 207 people from only “possibly” voting. Even if they vote they don’t invalidate my vote or anyone else.”

    I already know you won’t believe this but let me try anyway.

    Assume you are in a district which includes you and 207 illegal potential voters.
    Let’s just say you want to vote for President Obama’s re elction and that just a hundred of them choose to vote and they vote for Governor Romney.

    They tally up the votes. Obama got one, Romney got 100. Yes, you got to vote and yes, your vote was counted but the illegal votes outnumbered you and he lost.

    David, you’re crazy. The election wouldn’t be determined by a hundred votes.

    Yes, I am, and no it wouldn’t.
    But that doesn’t change the fact that a small number of illegal votes COULD undo the will of the legal citizens.

    Further, until they checked, they were afraid it might be as many as 2600, Republicans are sometimes paranoid, but what if it had really been so? We DEFINITELY know that’s enough to throw a statewide vote and to change the course of a national election.

    David for respect to law
    whenever possible

  2. Gembeaux on September 13th, 2012 9:52 am

    It’s not a burden to show an ID to get food stamps, but it is to vote? Just more liberal manipulation of the law.

  3. 429SCJ on September 13th, 2012 8:57 am

    Non citizens do not have the right to vote, what is the problem with purging them from the list?

  4. whom!!! on September 13th, 2012 8:52 am

    Why is it a burden to have a ID to vote? You go to the store you show id to right checks or purchase major items, why is this a problem? Its because dead people cannot vote then, Felons ect. !!!!

  5. PSU1Earl on September 13th, 2012 7:51 am

    I agree Kathy, too much money for very little… I guess this was much a do about nothing… On to the next smoke and mirror act!

  6. Kathy on September 13th, 2012 6:44 am

    Awful lot of money spent to stop 207 people from only “possibly” voting. Even if they vote they don’t invalidate my vote or anyone else. Republicans are trying every which way to stop the vote in Fla.

  7. Jane on September 13th, 2012 6:27 am

    Now do something about the lengthly process to get a driver’s license. Why not just take a thumb print like many other states? California has been doing this for years…you go in, they scan your thumb and get on with it. What is this pile of papers we have to drag around about? Not to mention many people have had driver’s licenses here most of their lives and all of a sudden they have to take marriage licenses, birth certificates, etc. in…BTW all can be forged…thumb prints can’t.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News