Wire service says swing state of Florida vetting 180,000 voter registrations

Florida is a swing state in the 2012 election, and that’s a good reason for state officials to make sure voter registrations are legitimate. Reuters ran a story on May 11 reporting that 180,000 registrations are being vetted in the Sunshine State.

Secretary of State Ken Detzner announced the initiative on May 9. In a news release, Detzner said the Dept. of State recently sent the information of “more than 2,600 potential non-citizens to Florida’s 67 Supervisors of Elections for review and, if warranted, removal from Florida’s voter rolls.” The initiative is ongoing.

Detzner’s office has partnered with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. DHSMV has the potential to identify non-citizens in DHSMV’s database. Legal non-citizens can get a driver’s license, but they are not eligible to vote.

DOS is actively seeking access to federal Department of Homeland Security databases such as SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) for further verification of immigration status.

Will Homeland Security grant the access?

If the Dept. of Justice is an indicator, maybe not. President Barack Obama’s attorney general Eric Holder has actually criticized efforts to ensure a valid vote by investigating states that have enacted voter ID laws.

The American Civil Liberties Union even filed a lawsuit against Wisconsin because the state wants voters to show a photo ID.

In Florida, Sen. Bill Nelson asked the Dept. of Justice to investigate his own state for the same reasons. Democrats have a policy of anti-voter ID.

However, Nelson and his fellow Democrats have never addressed requirements for buying alcohol, finalizing a mortgage, making retail purchases with a credit card, entering a football game arena and picking up certain prescription drugs. Those actions are but a sampler of procedures that require a photo ID.

Voter eligibility is an ongoing concern. In 2008 Florida’s WFTV channel 9 (Orlando) reported that “thousands of dead Floridians are registered to vote.” The station found that some people in the central part of their state managed to vote after they died.

Another concern Floridians have relates to the state's part-time residents. If a person has homes in two states, it wouldn't be too much of a problem to vote absentee in one and in person in the other.

Similar discoveries were made in 2010 in Missouri when KMOTV reported more than 4,000 dead people remained on voter rolls.

Democrats often claim numbers of ineligible voters aren’t significant, but that is not true. Voter fraud cases aren’t just prosecuted at the federal level.

Elections sometimes are decided by slim margins.

Voter fraud cases have been prosecuted in Florida, New York, Georgia, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Texas among other states.

Detzner said:

“When a supervisor of elections receives information from DOS that a registered voter is a potential non-citizen, the supervisor must begin the statutory notice and removal process. Potential non-citizens will be provided an explanation of the basis for their potential ineligibility and an opportunity to request a hearing to dispute the determination of potential ineligibility.”

Recommended/Sources

Did Sen. Nelson read HB 1355 before siccing DOJ on Florida? (The US Report)

Florida investigation reveals 180,000 non-citizens... (Red State)

Florida says 180,000 non-citizens may be on voter rolls  (Reuters)

Dead people voting throughout Florida (WFTV-9, Orlando)

(Filed by Kay B. Day/May 13, 2012)