Florida is set to resume voter purges now that a lower court has dismissed a lawsuit that led to a court order to halt implementation of purges last fall.
The way was cleared for tossing out the lawsuit after the Supreme Court’s decision last month to strike down Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act, which many civil rights groups anticipated would lead to increased voter suppression.
The voter purge, which heavily targeted Hispanic and African-American voters, was so inaccurate that the original list presented by the state included many U.S.-born citizens and was subsequently pared down from 180,000 registered voters to about 198.
“The current situation leaves the gates wide open for voter suppression measures. In 2012, we witnessed countless attempts to prevent eligible Americans from voting, particularly minority voters. Florida was certainly one of the more notorious examples—shortening early voting days, purging voters from the rolls and placing undue burden on third-party voter registration groups, whose work is particularly important in increasing participation among underrepresented communities,” said Clarissa Martínez-De-Castro, National Council of La Raza Director of Immigration and Civic Engagement.
Martinez-De-Castro continued: “It is clear that a weakened Voting Rights Act (VRA) will only embolden efforts like this to marginalize eligible minority voters. We are urging Congress to act quickly to make the VRA whole again and restore the public confidence in our voting process. In addition, we are asking the U.S. Department of Justice, through its authority in the remaining sections of the VRA, to closely monitor what Florida election officials are doing in the state and take action where necessary. We cannot allow this to erode the progress we’ve made over decades of hard work and sacrifice to ensure equal access to the voting booth.”
