MIAMI, (Reuters) – Florida yesterday disputed a Justice Department claim that its controversial voter purge efforts may be illegal and said it was the federal government that appeared to have run afoul of the law.
“The Florida Department of State has a solemn obligation to ensure the integrity of elections in this state,” said Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner in a letter to the Justice Department.
“Permitting ineligible, non-citizen voters to cast ballots undermines that mission and erodes the justified faith the electorate has in the fairness and reliability of the electoral process,” he added.
Supporters of Florida’s voter purge, which has been vigorously pursued under Republican Governor Rick Scott, say it is aimed at clearing voter rolls of non-citizens. But critics call it part of long-running Republican effort to deter minorities and the poor, who tend to vote Democratic, from casting ballots.
Florida is expected to be a key state in the Nov. 6 presidential election.
Detzner said Florida’s actions were consistent with federal voting laws and his pointed comments indicated that Florida had no immediate intention of giving up its voter scrub effort.
T. Christian Herren, who heads the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, had warned Detzner in a separate letter last week that an ongoing search for and purging of non-eligible voters in Florida appeared to violate the 1965 Voting Rights Act that protects minorities.
