Voting-rights groups filed an amended lawsuit Wednesday that continues to challenge Florida’s attempts to remove possibly ineligible voters from registration rolls, saying federal law bars such purges within 90 days of an election.
The filing, in federal court in Miami, came the same day that the state Division of Elections said it had reduced a controversial list of allegedly ineligible voters from 2,600 to 207. That list had touched off a long-running legal battle between the state, voting rights group and federal officials.
The amended lawsuit, filed by five groups and two individuals, seeks to block the state from doing any purges before the Nov. 6 general election. It cites part of a federal law that the voting rights groups say bars “systematic purging” of voters within 90 days of an election.
“In light of Florida’s history of engaging in actions that have compromised its citizens’ fundamental right to vote, and due to the likelihood that the state will continue to take steps to cause irreparable harm to valid and legitimate voters by illegally purging them, it is imperative that this court hear and consider this action and grant injunctive relief,” the amended lawsuit says.
