Florida Voter Purge Draws Lawsuit From Groups Claiming State Is In Violation Of Voting Rights Act

Source: Reuters

Florida Voter Purge Draws Lawsuit From Groups Claiming State Is In Violation Of Voting Rights Act
Reuters | Posted: 06/19/2012 5:06 pm Updated: 06/19/2012 5:25 pm

MIAMI, June 19 (Reuters) - Florida was hit with a new lawsuit on Tuesday over its efforts, under Republican Governor Rick Scott, to purge non-citizens from the state's voter rolls.

A coalition of voting rights organizations, including the Fair Elections Legal Network, filed the lawsuit in federal court in Miami on behalf of various plaintiffs. They included the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights and a local chapter of the Service Employees International Union.

The lawsuit, which follows others filed earlier this month by the U.S. Justice Department and American Civil Liberties Union, names Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner, who is responsible for running elections in the state, as the defendant.

It accuses Florida of violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because a disproportionate of those targeted, as part of efforts to cull non-citizens from the voter rolls, are Hispanics.


Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/19/florida-voter-purge-lawsuit_n_1610292.html