Voter Fraud Back in Spotlight
October 29th, 2013 by flanewsVoters beware. A new voter purge effort will look for any ineligible voters. Opponents say the state is continuing to do what it can to suppress the minority vote.
For more than a decade – Florida has been at ground zero for long lines, requiring identification, and attempts to purge voting rolls. Secretary of State Ken Detzner says his goal someone doesn’t vote who shouldn’t.
“I hear consistently 100-percent of the time from voters that they don’t want individuals on our voter rolls that are ineligible,” he said.
Detzner just finished a statewide tour meeting with county elections supervisors to look at purging non-citizen Florida voters. Opponents say the state is wasting time and money on something that is a moot issue.
“It’s inappropriate, it is politically motivated and its going to be another disaster,” said Allison Tant, Chairwoman Florida Democratic Party.
Tant says the last time voters were purged minorities were on the receiving end of it.
“60-percent of the people who are knocked off voter rolls with the last election were Hispanic or African American,” she said.
The purge will be checked by at least two Division of Elections workers before being verified by a federal database called the “Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements” commonly known as SAVE.
A time frame hasn’t been announced for the process, although elections officials will start matching a very small-batch basis. That would include comparing a person’s driver’s license with other federal information to see if they are eligible voters.
“We need to be able to provide credible and reliable information and documentation,” said Detzner.
Detzner says he is not being pressured by any other state officials to start the purge – but he reports to Governor Rick Scott.
The SAVE database wasn’t available to Florida when the state was working to last purge noncitizens votes.
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