Gov. Rick Scott: voter purge lawful, feds are wrong and breaking the law (tells DOJ to pound sand)

The Miami Herald ^ | June 6, 2012 | Marc Caputo and Steve Bousquet

[Lancey Howard]

In a sharply-worded letter, the Scott administration all but dares the Justice Department to sue Florida for allegedly violating voting rights laws.

______________________________________________

Gov. Rick Scott’s election’s chief on Wednesday defiantly refused a federal demand to stop purging non-citizens from Florida’s voter rolls, intensifying an election-year confrontation with President Barack Obama’s administration as each side accuses the other of breaking federal law.

In a sharply worded letter, Scott’s administration claimed the Department of Justice doesn’t understand two federal voting laws at the heart of the dispute and was protecting potentially illegal voters more than legal ones.

Florida also accused another federal agency, the Department of Homeland Security, of violating the law by denying Florida access to a federal citizenship database.

“This hardly seems like an approach earnestly designed to protect the integrity of elections and to ensure that eligible voters have their votes counted,” said the letter, written by Scott’s hand-picked secretary of state, Ken Detzner, a fellow Republican.

Detzner also submitted a list of four questions that he wants the DOJ to answer.

[Lancey Howard]

This story is the follow-up to the story posted earlier that anticipated this response from Rick Scott.

Gov. Rick Scott looks ready to fight DOJ over voter purge

[Lancey Howard]

vanity BUMP

[Sea Parrot]

Take it to Obama, hard and fast without mercy.

[liberalh8ter]

by Scott’s hand-picked secretary of state, Ken Detzner, a fellow Republican.

Bias much, Miami Herald?

[Lancey Howard]

Any bets the previous governor would have folded like a cheap suit?

[Jonty30]

The good news is that the feds can’t really do anything in the courts until after November, so it should full steam ahead for the states who are in the midst of purging their election lists.

I’d tell the DOJ to go pound sand as well.

[Norm Lenhart]

Joe Arpaio showed leadership. Amazing what one man can accomplish by standing his ground. Not to take anything away from the Gov, as I salute his actions. I’m just saying that all it took was for one man to say FU to the admin. Others see him and find that it’s a good idea.

[bikerman]

Go Scott Go. Florida Rules.

[Libloather]

denying Florida access to a federal citizenship database.

Hussein would be in there - eh?

[DeaconRed]

"Any bets the previous governor would have folded like a cheap suit?"

Are you kidding me?
Charlie would't have even taken this up! ! ! !

[Ann Archy]

Holder says it's ILLEGAL to Purge ILLEGAL "voters" from rolls!!! OMG!!

We ARE a Banana Republic....WITHOUT the bananas!

[Elle Bee]

This is an important development

Send Gov Scott an email showing your support

“If the effect of the NVRA (Motor Voter) is to force a state to allow never-eligible non-citizens the opportunity to vote,” he wrote, “then the statute might violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution, which guarantees that the right to vote cannot be denied by a dilution of the weight of a citizen’s vote.”

As for the Voting Rights Act claim, Detzner wrote, Florida already received federal permission to remove noncitizens, which is clearly spelled out in Florida law.

What’s more, the Voting Rights Act applies to only five Florida counties — Monroe, Hillsborough, Collier, Hardee and Hendry — and not the other 62 in Florida, including Miami-Dade, where about 1,600 of the 2,700 potential noncitizens were initially identified by the state in a database created by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

About 500 people in Miami-Dade have been found to be lawful citizens and voters, and 13 noncitizens have been found. Two of them might have voted and could face prosecution. The county has been unable to verify the citizenship of more than 1,100 others.

Assuming the purge halts, those people could vote this year — even if some are noncitizens.

"Not a single eligible voter as far, as I know, has been removed from the voter rolls," Scott said Wednesday on WNDB radio in Daytona Beach, according to a News Service of Florida transcript. "Not one. And we’re working to keep it that way."

"Their vote should not be diluted by people who don’t have the right to vote," Scott said. "We need to be reviewing our voter rolls and making sure only those individuals who have the right to vote … are voting."

“This hardly seems like an approach earnestly designed to protect the integrity of elections and to ensure that eligible voters have their votes counted,” said the letter, written by Scott’s hand-picked secretary of state, Ken Detzner, a fellow Republican.

Detzner also submitted a list of four questions that he wants the DOJ to answer:

LETTER HERE

.

[ScottinVA]

Scott Walker and Rick Scott, two Governors with the intestinal fortitude to do the right thing and withstand the pressure to do otherwise.

Are you watching, GOP-e??? Pay attention because THAT`S how it`s done!!!

[MichaelP]

The AC/DC song He's Got Big B____ comes to mind;)

Mike

[bcsco]

This is a ping list promoting Immigration Enforcement and Congressional Reform.
If you wish to be added or removed from this ping list, please contact me.

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[Conservative Vermont Vet]

BOUT TIME....!

...that someone stands up to the biased, corrupt, racist, AG and his Far Left minions in the DOJ and tells them to go pound sand...

So refreshing to see that at least not ALL of the Republi-Tards are Girly-Guy, Wusses (Are you listening, oh Weeper of the House and most other "R" members in Congress....oh, and you too, Mittens) and have not put their "Family Jewels" securely away in some lock box.

Damn the torpedoes...full steam ahead!!!

[Kellis91789]

The fact that DOJ has been stalling for almost a year on providing citizenship database access tells you all you need to know. They have been trying to intimidate efforts in every state to clean up voter rolls. The only possible reason for such tactics — as opposed to assisting to ensure it is done properly — is because liberals know there are illegal votes that favor the Dem candidates. If they thought all those non-citizens were voting GOP, they’d be pushing this cleanup.

[exit82]

The only possible reason for such tactics — as opposed to assisting to ensure it is done properly — is because liberals know there are illegal votes that favor the Dem candidates. If they thought all those non-citizens were voting GOP, they’d be pushing this cleanup.

You rang that bell!

[GladesGuru]

Give the commie rag, AKA Miami Herald, credit for this article. It is accurate AND has a sidebar with links to the documents referred to in the article.

Had the herald written in this manner in the past, I would have continued to read it, something I have not bothered with for many years.