Florida election officials will have access to a federal database to
help purge its voter rolls of non-citizens under an agreement reached
between state and federal officials and welcomed on Saturday by
Florida's Republican governor.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will allow state officials to access the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database.
Florida and federal officials have been battling over access to the database for several weeks. Florida filed a lawsuit against the Homeland Security Department to gain access to the database. The state was hit by a lawsuit from the U.S. Justice Department seeking to stop the purge.
Now other states are expected to ask for access to the database so they too can check their rolls. Some state governments have sought access to the federal database for years. Federal officials told Washington state back in 2005 they saw no way to compare voters and the Homeland Security information.
Colorado has sought the federal data for a year. The Centennial State, which has a Democratic governor but a Republican secretary of state, Scott Gessler, has identified about 5,000 registered voters that it wants to check against the federal information.
Officials in the politically competitive states of Ohio, Michigan, New Mexico and Iowa — all led by GOP governors — are backing his efforts.
Gessler said 430 registered voters have acknowledged being ineligible, but an "unenforceable honor system does not build confidence in our elections."
Gessler also is seeking information from jails in 10 of the state's largest counties for persons held on "immigration detainers" since 2010, the Denver Post reported.
Justice Department officials have said the database is not a comprehensive listing of citizens and that state officials failed to hand over key information to cross-reference the listing.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will allow state officials to access the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database.
Florida and federal officials have been battling over access to the database for several weeks. Florida filed a lawsuit against the Homeland Security Department to gain access to the database. The state was hit by a lawsuit from the U.S. Justice Department seeking to stop the purge.
Now other states are expected to ask for access to the database so they too can check their rolls. Some state governments have sought access to the federal database for years. Federal officials told Washington state back in 2005 they saw no way to compare voters and the Homeland Security information.
Colorado has sought the federal data for a year. The Centennial State, which has a Democratic governor but a Republican secretary of state, Scott Gessler, has identified about 5,000 registered voters that it wants to check against the federal information.
Officials in the politically competitive states of Ohio, Michigan, New Mexico and Iowa — all led by GOP governors — are backing his efforts.
Gessler said 430 registered voters have acknowledged being ineligible, but an "unenforceable honor system does not build confidence in our elections."
Gessler also is seeking information from jails in 10 of the state's largest counties for persons held on "immigration detainers" since 2010, the Denver Post reported.
Justice Department officials have said the database is not a comprehensive listing of citizens and that state officials failed to hand over key information to cross-reference the listing.
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