Justice Department Demands Florida Stop Purging Voter Rolls

[Sarah G]

I guess this radical Gov had better get a plan B. Voter fraud, what a snake. Setting up another Rovian 2000 scenario.

The Justice Department sent a letter to Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner Thursday evening demanding the state cease purging its voting rolls because the process it is using has not been cleared under the Voting Rights Act, TPM has learned.

DOJ also said that Florida’s voter roll purge violated the National Voter Registration Act, which stipulates that voter roll maintenance should have ceased 90 days before an election, which given Florida’s August 14 primary, meant May 16.

Five of Florida’s counties are subject to the Voting Rights Act, but the state never sought permission from either the Justice Department or a federal court to implement its voter roll maintenance program. Florida officials said they were trying to remove non-citizens from the voting rolls, but a flawed process led to several U.S. citizens being asked to prove their citizenship status or be kicked off the rolls.

Six members of Congress wrote Gov. Rick Scott earlier this week demanding that he stop purging the state’s voting rolls since the process improperly flagged numerous individuals who were eligible to vote.

“To enable us to meet our responsibility to enforce federal law, please inform us by June 6 of the action that the State of Florida plans to take concerning the matters discussed in this letter,” Christian Herren, chief of the voting section of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, wrote in the letter obtained by TPM. “Specifically, please advise whether the State intends to cease the practice discussed above, so that the Department can determine what futher action, if any, is necessary.”

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsme...a_stop_purging_voter_rolls.php?ref=fpnewsfeed

 

[jillian]

Good. I thought keeping people from voting was taken care of in the 60's

 

[Sarah G]

Good

I was hoping they'd jump on this. Jeezus, he was trying to purge 182,000 voters!

 

[occupied]

I heard Palm Beach county has refused to take action in the purge complaining that the information used to compile the list was as much as twelve years old.

 

[Staidhup]

Great, so the prohibition on purging the dead, those that moved out of state, and non citizens from the voting rolls serves who's purpose and protects what? As the joke goes "if uncle Joe was alive today I know for a fact he would have voted straight democrat".The problem with the DOJ is the DOJ.

 

[Stephanie]

If I was Forida I'd tell the Doj to go to hell

 

[Lakhota]

Duplicate post.

 

[Lakhota]

Good

I was hoping they'd jump on this. Jeezus, he was trying to purge 182,000 voters!

It's about time this craziness was nipped in the bud.

 

[Stephanie]

Too bad for Holder he has no friggen say over what a state does..

 

[naturegirl]

Too bad for Holder he has no friggen say over what a state does..

Yea, what's he gonna do, sue them???

 

[Avatar4321]

What issues do they have with the methods? If people are dead why shouldnt they be removed from the registered?

 

[Stephanie]

Too bad for Holder he has no friggen say over what a state does..

Yea, what's he gonna do, sue them???

Yeah, it wouldn't be the first time he's sued us citizens of a state..

 

[Salt Jones]

White conservatives are the kings of voter suppression. They are scared.

 

[Avatar4321]

White conservatives are the kings of voter suppression. They are scared.

You can't surpress dead people. Dead people aren't eligible to vote.

 

[DontBeStupid]

If I was Forida I'd tell the Doj to go to hell

I see conservatives only value freedom when it applies to conservative voters.

 

[Avatar4321]

If I was Forida I'd tell the Doj to go to hell

I see conservatives only value freedom when it applies to conservative voters.

You mean when it applies to living voters.

 

[Stephanie]

If I was Forida I'd tell the Doj to go to hell

I see conservatives only value freedom when it applies to conservative voters.

yeah yeah, you see

 

[DontBeStupid]

If I was Forida I'd tell the Doj to go to hell

I see conservatives only value freedom when it applies to conservative voters.

You mean when it applies to living voters.

Prior to Florida's law, it was legal, and encouraged, to remove deceased voters and non-citizens. All this law did was make it so Florida could remove legal voters.

And you all cheer this?

 

[bigrebnc1775]

What issues do they have with the methods? If people are dead why shouldnt they be removed from the registered?

Why keep dead people's name on record? They aren't going to be voting anytime soon. Or at least shouldn't be.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Five of Florida’s counties are subject to the Voting Rights Act, but the state never sought permission from either the Justice Department or a federal court to implement its voter roll maintenance program.

And with good reason, they knew they were in violation of the VRA.

The contempt for the law, Constitution, and civil liberties of the citizens of Florida exhibited by this republican administration is unprecedented since the end of the Civil Rights Era.

Motivated primarily by partisan extremism, the actions taken by republican state officials have nonetheless resulted in discriminatory practices against Florida voters.

Great, so the prohibition on purging the dead, those that moved out of state, and non citizens from the voting rolls serves who's purpose and protects what? As the joke goes "if uncle Joe was alive today I know for a fact he would have voted straight democrat".The problem with the DOJ is the DOJ.

Thanks for sharing your ignorance. The issue is the process, not the purpose. The state may update its voter rolls but within the context of the law.

What issues do they have with the methods? If people are dead why shouldnt they be removed from the registered?

This, among others:

Florida officials said they were trying to remove non-citizens from the voting rolls, but a flawed process led to several U.S. citizens being asked to prove their citizenship status or be kicked off the rolls.