When Gov. Rick Scott's (R-FL) administration distributed
its controversial lists of possible non-citizen voters
last month, state statute required the state's 67 county
supervisors of elections to send out letters requiring
those voters to prove their eligibility to vote within
30 days - a window that will end in the next couple of
weeks in many counties. But a ThinkProgress survey of
several county supervisors in Florida reveals that the
lists of presumed non-eligible voters is riddled with
errors. In large and small jurisdictions across the
state, supervisors have found that a large number of the
voters on the list are indeed eligible voters.
Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall told
ThinkProgress that she and the state's 66 other county
elections supervisors sent a "clear message" to the
Scott administration at a Tampa conference two weeks
ago. "One after another, [they] got up and talked about
inaccuracies [in the state's voter purge list of alleged
non-citizen voters]."
In Miami-Dade, the count of voters whose citizenship
status has been challenged by the Scott administration
numbered in the hundreds. With time left to respond,
nearly a quarter of those sent letters in have already
proven their eligibility.
Several smaller counties also confirmed to ThinkProgress
that voters have proven that their inclusion on the list
was in error.
In Clay County, near Jacksonville, the elections
supervisor received two names from the state. One proved
citizenship; the other was purged from the rolls for not
responding within 30 days. Charlotte County (two out of
nine) and Bradford County (two out of nine) also
reported significant percentage of errors on the state's
list.
Citrus County Supervisor of Elections Susan Gill (R),
who serves a Tampa-area county with a population of just
about 140,000, received just three names from the state
that it deemed likely non-citizens. But already two of
those have produced documentation to verify their
citizenship and voter eligibility. One of the two was
even born in New York State. The third voter, who has
yet to respond to a registered letter, has never even
voted.
Gill told ThinkProgress:
"Everybody thinks we vote in a computer world. When
you do any sort of data matches, you need several
data points to make a good match. When the state
first sent these 2,600 to us, some of the matches
didn't have enough information. We're required by
law to send a letter . and unfortunately they have
to prove their citizenship. Some of them weren't
terribly happy. The state needs to find a better way
to do the data matches."
Before the state sends out lists challenging the
eligibility of voters - putting the onus on lawfully
registered citizens to re-prove their eligibility - it
has an obligation to be certain that that list is valid.
Clearly, it did not do so here.
The purge of fully eligible voters from the voting rolls
by Scott could be enough to tip the balance in Florida
and, perhaps, the presidential election. In 2000, the
final (disputed) margin was just 537 votes.
Tell Rick Scott to stop his Florida voter purge by adding your name here
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