U.S. to Let Florida Use Its Data for Voter Check

[Casino67]

NYTimes.com:

 

 

The federal government has granted Florida election officials access to a database of noncitizen residents for use in Republican-backed efforts to remove people who are not American citizens from voter registration rolls.

 

J Pat Carter/Associated Press

 

Gov. Rick Scott of Florida had been pushing for access to the Homeland Security database.

 

The decision, which came after efforts by the Obama administration to block access, was issued in a letter to Gov. Rick Scott’s administration and made public on Saturday. Mr. Scott, along with the state’s Republicans, had been pushing for months to gain access to the database, which is maintained by the Department of Homeland Security, arguing that it would allow for a more accurate review of voter lists.

 

The effort is part of a broader push by Republicans in Florida and in other states to prevent voter fraud by expunging what they say are thousands of ineligible noncitizens from voter lists.

 

Opponents of the Republican effort, who acknowledge that people who are not American citizens have no right to vote, have argued that the federal database, the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, was never intended to be used for purging voter lists. They have also charged that the purge of voter lists could violate voters’ rights laws and be used to discriminate against minorities. With so little time left before November’s elections, they argue, anyone wrongfully purged from voter lists could be barred from voting anyway.