Florida tells hundreds of citizens they are ineligible to vote
BOWLING GREEN, OH – MARCH 6: Barbara Bovee casting her ballot at a polling station setup at an elementary school as Ohio heads to the polls on March 6, 2012 in Bowling Green, Ohio. Voters in several states headed to the polls on Super Tuesday as the Republican party continues the process of deciding who will be their general election candidate against President Barack Obama.
Florida Governor Rick Scott has ordered the state to purge all “non-citizens” from the voting rolls prior to November’s election, according to the political website ThinkProgress.
The Palm Beach Post reported Florida officials said Friday the state will purge over 180,000 suspected noncitizens from the voter rolls – despite complaints.
ThinkProgress argues there are rampant errors with the list compiled by Scott's administration and that, in Miami-Dade County alone, hundreds of US citizens are being told they are ineligible to vote.
Some 359 of the those eliminated from the rolls subsequently provided the state with proof of citizenship, ThinkProgress reported.
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Six civil rights and voting rights organizations recently sent a letter to Secretary of State Ken Detzner asking him to stop the purge or risk a lawsuit, the Associated Press reported.
The groups contend federal law bars the state from removing voters from the rolls less than 90 days before a federal election – Florida's primary is Aug. 14, the AP wrote.