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According to the Palm Beach Post, all 67 elections supervisors in Florida’s 67 counties have suspended the voter purge planned by the Governor, Rick Scott, and the Secretary of State’s office. The general counsel for the elections supervisors recommended a suspension after an order from the Justice Department to halt the voter purge, citing violations of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act.
The Justice Department letter and mistakes that the 67 county elections supervisors have found in the state list make the scrub undoable, said Martin County Elections Supervisor Vicki Davis, president of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections.
“There are just too many variables with this entire process at this time for supervisors to continue,” Davis said.
Ron Labasky, the association’s general counsel, sent a memo to the 67 supervisors Friday telling them to stop processing the list.
“I recommend that Supervisors of Elections cease any further action until the issues raised by the Department of Justice are resolved between the parties or by a Court,” Labasky wrote.
The Governor could still order a continuation of the purge; the Secretary of State’s office promised an answer by June 6. But at that point, I’d have to think the Justice Department would seek an injunction. And the elections supervisors clearly aren’t interested in getting caught in the middle of that fight.
At least some of the original 2,600 voter names submitted to the supervisors by Secretary of State Ken Detzner have already been processed, and letters sent to the individual voters saying they have 30 days to prove their US citizenship or risk being thrown off the voter rolls. According to Martin County Elections Supervisor Davis, voters will only get purged if there is “credible and reliable information” of voter ineligibility beyond the list of names sent by Detzner. If individuals do not contact their elections supervisor they will not automatically get purged, Davis says.
So the system did work here. Media learned of Rick Scott’s effort to replay Jeb Bush’s successful voter purge in 2000. They raised awareness among the public, and elections supervisors had to answer questions. Activists got involved at the state and national level. Elected officials, namely Democrats in Florida’s Congressional delegation, got involved. The Justice Department was spurred to action. And the elections supervisors shut down the scheme.
This isn’t the end of the fight – Scott Administration officials are giving every indication that they want to keep going with this. But so far, a rerun of the Florida voter purge of 2000 has been avoided.
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It’s hard enough to wade through the normal looking political candidates, but if someone running for office looks like Skeletor the Freak, try not to vote for them.
Been following elections for a long time, and I can’t think of a single case where the Republicans have ever advocated for more inclusive voter participation. Their agenda has ALWAYS been to exclude as many voters as possible from the process.
LOL, apparently too many Floridians can’t see or think that well anymore. Trust me, they let anyone drive forever down here. The overmedicated senile brings a new meaning to hazardous driving with a Ms Dazzy electorate.
The good news from this story is that it increases the chances that the corporate Democrat can carry Florida instead of the corporate Republican, which I suppose is good news.
Book Salon up with Medea Benjamin’s Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control hosted by John Feffer
Sorry guys, but when your constituency includes illegals and felons, these things happen.
I’m hoping Governor Voldemort doubles down and keeps going with this. I’d love to see him dragged out of the statehouse in handcuffs.
According to the FBI it happened some .0000053% of the time in 08. Out of some 68,000,000 plus votes cast in 2008 they found credible evidence of fraud 360 times give or take – NATIONWIDE. And a good percent of them were just people claiming to live in counties they did not for the purpose of evading property taxes or to send their kids to better schools or something silly like that. There is NO rampant voter fraud – except for that practiced by the republican party in the form of shennanigans like this.
What does that even mean? Whose constituency? Governor Voldemort’s? And what “things happen”? Governors committing crimes? Illegally and without due process removing peoples’ rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America? Are you being deliberately vague so you can criticize commentators here without having to defend Scott’s indefensible actions?
Riock Scott engineered the biggest Medicare scam ever and he never even saw a subpoena. He should be a felon in jail.
So would we all – but do you really think the Obama/Holder Justice Dept. would even consider that if he was caught red-handed and on tape molesting a child? Seriously?
Call me a cynic but I have to wonder if the Justice Department would have said boo if this was not a presidential election cycle and if Florida was not considered among the swing states.
“Cynic! Cynic!” …too bad you’re right. I wish there were a way to turn the screws in the other direction. Let this fashion a raised awareness in voting rights/registration, get MORE participation than before the purge.
I’m all for an Australia-model mandatory voting. (Brazil, too, I think.) Just a slap-on-the-wrist fine for non-compliance, the price of a cup of coffee that everyone can afford, but still a heightened participation that works.
I still want Rick to pee in a cup since he is getting tax payer money. He can have his whole administration do the same!
Go fuck yourself.
TODAY’S REPUBLICANS ARE AMERICA’S ENEMY WITHIN
Republicans ARE practicing seditious DEMAGOGUERY and anti-democracy OBSTRUCTIONISM intended to destabilize our economy for purposes of political exploitation.
Republicans AREN’T making a sincere effort to STOP the bleeding THEIR incompetent leadership and failed policies created. Instead, they’re using inflammatory lies and accusations as a smokescreen to conceal their subversive agenda, which is to cause President Obama and America to fail so they can blame Democrats for the consequences of THEIR calamitous mismanagement.
Republicans ARE preposterously professing that THEIR disgraceful political WHORING had nothing to do with the banking, real estate, stock market and employment catastrophes that resulted.
Republicans ARE trying to hamstring Democrats to prevent them from repairing the damage caused during a Republican presidency that was irresponsibly enabled by Republican Senators and Representatives.
Republicans ARE offering ridiculous arguments meant solely to disrupt and prevent progressive change. They’d rather divide America and create political gridlock than endure the political consequences of effective Democratic governance.
Republicans AREN’T the LOYAL OPPOSITION; they ARE the ENEMY WITHIN whose mercenary priorities have eroded their moral and ethical standards to the point that duplicity and betrayal have become their preferred modus operandi.
It’s one thing to advocate their conservative beliefs; it’s another thing entirely to willfully sabotage America’s government because a successful Democratic presidency would not be vulnerable to the greed, fears and hatreds that have produced and sustained the despicable Republican anti-government corporatism and anti-Christian faux theocracies that are poisoning and crippling American society.