Gov. Rick Scott isnt done railing against the federal government over the states inability to get access to a database expected to help identify noncitizens on the lists of registered voters in Florida.
And hes preparing the state attorney to again pursue the issue in court.
The federal government announced in July that it would at long last make the Homeland Security Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program (SAVE) database available to the state.
However, late Thursday, as the state released discs to the media containing the names and birthdates of potentially ineligible voters, Scott vented his frustration that the database is still inaccessible to Florida with less than three months until the general election.
Given the Department of Homeland Securitys failure to execute an agreement over the last month, after agreeing to provide Florida access to SAVE, attorneys representing the state of Florida and its citizens are now preparing all appropriate legal options to ensure that an agreement is executed in a timely manner and prevent the irreparable harm that will result if noncitizens are not removed from the voting rolls, a release from the governors office stated.
Scott also expressed his desire for the media to use constraint when going through the disc.
The list is considered obsolete as the state intends to run a new check on every name through the federal system before again asking county supervisors of elections to conduct further checks before removing anyone from the list.
The disc contained names and birthdates. Cities and counties were not included, while drivers license and Social Security numbers had been redacted.
Given the sensitivity of this information and citizens right to privacy, as well as the proximity to a major primary election next week, anyone who obtains these public records must handle them with the utmost caution, the governors office release stated.
Some have rightly raised concerns about the irresponsible use of these names and other accompanying personal information for political and other purposes. The governor shares these concerns and further cautions all recipients of this list to act responsibly.
County supervisors, who didnt expect to have time prior to the Aug. 14 primary, have agreed to ask Secretary of State Ken Detzner that when the new lists of potential noncitizens are sent out, each name includes a case file to justify the need for the review, similar to how felons are handled between the state and county offices.
Democrats have argued that the state effort is a push to remove minorities from the list of registered voters prior to the 2012 presidential contest.
The U.S. Department of Justice has claimed the states effort to remove voters may violate the 1965 Voting Rights Act -- requiring federal preclearance before undertaking any changes in Monroe, Hillsborough, Collier, Hardee and Hendry counties, which have past experience with minority-voting problems -- and that because of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, time has run out for the review before the 2012 elections.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
