Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The Justice Department said it will sue Florida if it doesn’t scrap its controversial voter purge program, which critics says unfairly targets minorities based on largely inaccurate information, CNN reports.
At issue is a Republican-led effort to eliminate non-eligible voters in a battleground state that will play a key role in the 2012 presidential election.
The state said it identified more than 100,000 non-eligible voters who could be on the list illegally, according to CNN.
Although states have the legal authority to remove non-eligible voters, the Justice Department argues the program violates legal standards designed to avoid mistakes.
CNN reports:
While the Justice Department notes that states can legally remove non-eligible voters from their lists, the letter Monday argues that the Florida program does not comply with legal standards, has “critical imperfections, which lead to errors that harm and confuse eligible voters.”
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties voluntarily ended the removal of names from voting lists on the recommendation of Florida county election officials, CNN reported.
