In the latest volley in the ongoing battle over Florida voter lists,
the Justice Department has sent a letter stating it will take legal
action against the state, citing violations of voting rights laws.
"Because the State has
indicated its unwillingness to comply with these requirements, I have
authorized the initiation of an enforcement action against Florida in
federal court," said Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for civil
rights.
The lawsuit comes after
the department began questioning the legality of the state's so-called
voter purge program, which would remove names from Florida's voter rolls
months before the 2012 presidential election, when Florida will play a
key role as a battleground state with a large chunk of electoral votes.
Florida's move to
eliminate non-eligible voters from its lists began after the state's
Republican governor, Rick Scott, pressed the state to identify non-U.S.
citizens who had registered to vote illegally.
Using information from
Florida's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, the state
identified more than 100,000 names of non-eligible voters that could
potentially be on the lists illegally.
Critics say the plan
unfairly targets minorities and paint it as an attempt to dissuade
typically Democratic voters from going to the polls.
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