(Official correction with Florida spokesman saying state still
formulating response)
* State says obligated to ensure integrity of elections
* Seeks to clear registration rolls of non-citizens
* Critics say effort would hit minorities, the poor
June 2 (Reuters) – Florida, a key U.S. electoral
battleground where the 2000 presidential election was decided by
a few hundred ballots, will decide in the coming days whether to
heed a U.S. Justice Department warning to stop its campaign to
purge ineligible voters, a state spokesman said on Saturday.
The warning issued this week by the head of the Justice
Department’s voting section said the effort appeared to violate
the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which protects minorities. It
demanded a response by Wednesday.
A spokesman for Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner said
the state must make certain that only eligible voters cast
ballots.
“We have a year-round obligation to ensure the integrity of
Florida’s elections. We will be responding to (the Justice
Department’s) concerns next week,” Chris Cate said in an email
message.
Cate said in a subsequent telephone call that the state was
still formulating its response.
Polls show Florida will be closely contested between
Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican presidential
candidate Mitt Romney and the outcome could swing the Nov. 6
election.
A mere 537 Florida votes decided the 2000 election in favor
of Republican George W. Bush over Democrat Al Gore, amid charges
from both sides that some people were unable to vote, some votes
were uncounted, or were counted incorrectly.
The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately decided the contest in a
ruling that halted the recount process.
Supporters of Florida’s voter scrub, conducted by the
administration of Republican Governor Rick Scott, say it is
aimed at clearing voter registration rolls of non-citizens. But
critics call it part of longstanding Republican efforts to deter
minorities and the poor, who tend to vote Democratic, from
casting ballots.
2,700 VOTERS SUSPECTED
In its letter to Detzner on Thursday, the Justice Department
also said the effort seemed to violate the 1993 National Voter
Registration Act and its rules for maintaining “accurate and
current” voter registration lists “in a uniform and
non-discriminatory manner.”
The purge effort, begun in April, compares lists of
registered voters with driver’s license records that contain
information on citizenship. Critics contend the information can
be out of date as many people become citizens after they get
their driver’s licenses or state IDs.
So far the state has identified about 2,700 voters as
suspicious and sent them letters demanding they produce proof of
citizenship to avoid being stricken from the voter rolls.
According to the Miami Herald, Florida’s current list of
potential non-citizen voters includes many people who are lawful
citizens. One voter singled out as suspicious turned out to be a
Brooklyn-born World War Two hero with a Bronze Star from the
Battle of the Bulge.
About 58 percent on the list were Hispanics – Florida’s
largest ethnic immigrant population. Whites and Republicans were
least likely to face being purged from the rolls, the newspaper
said.
Civil rights groups say Florida has a long history of voter
roll tampering and manipulation. Most recently, in 2000 and
2004, it tried purging convicted felons from the rolls using
what were found to be inaccurate lists that kept ballots out of
the hands of black voters – who tend to vote Democratic.
(Reporting By Andrew Stern and Tom Brown; Editing by Xavier
Briand)
