Congressman Alan Grayson (FL-09) has called out Gov. Rick Scott over his second round of voter purge efforts, which in 2012 turned out to be disastrous for hundreds of mostly minority voters eligible to vote. Grayson, who issued the following statement said too, Scott’s timing for the round of meetings, (between Florida’s Secretary of State and Supervisors of Elections), which come right before his own re-election bid, suggests a conflict of interest.
See Rep. Alan Grayson’s full statement below:
“In 2012, Rick Scott began a concerted effort to remove “suspected non-citizens” from Florida’s voter rolls, which raised grave concerns about the errors resulting from the process. Many people on Rick Scott’s list of “suspected non-citizens” were in fact, citizens, and scrambled to prove their identity in order to vote in the 2012 presidential election. Groups such as Florida New Majority, Organize Now, and Latino Justice have noted that Rick Scott’s efforts disproportionately affected minorities.
“Civil rights and voting rights groups have overwhelmingly opposed Rick Scott’s thinly-veiled attempt to disenfranchise minority voters, dangerously close to the 2012 election,” Grayson said. “Yet here he is again, kicking off a new effort to target Florida’s voters, right before his own reelection – if that isn’t a conflict of interest, I don’t know what is. His timing is particularly insulting, given that it’s currently Hispanic Heritage Month.”
“The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy,” Grayson continued. “I believe that our democracy is strengthened by greater citizen participation in our elections, but sadly, I don’t think Rick Scott agrees. This so-called “review” of alleged “non-citizens” is nothing more than a superficial ploy to prevent Hispanics and African-American voters from exercising their constitutional right to vote. Rick Scott should be empowering all eligible Floridians, particularly our growing Hispanic population, to vote – instead he’s setting up roadblocks to obstruct them from doing so.”
