Dear Rick Scott,
Just a quick note to congratulate you on returning Florida to the electoral Dark Ages.
You began by reinstating an archaic rule that forces ex-felons to wait five years after completing their sentences to have their voting rights restored. Very strategic thinking on your part. Twelve years ago, when former Secretary of State Katherine Harris purged felons from the voter rolls, she "accidentally" scrubbed thousands of law-abiding citizens. The world also discovered that a disproportionate swath of Florida's disenfranchised felons were African-Americans. Clearly you were taking notes. The felon rule will eliminate voters on many fronts.
Now Secretary of State Ken Detzner is trying to remove thousands of "noncitizens" from the voter rolls in time for the August primary. Detzner, acting on your behalf,
came up with a lengthy list of ineligible voters by comparing their
driver's licenses and voting records. It was an ingenious plan, except
for one tiny problem: The list was full of errors. It contained names of people who were born in America or had become citizens after getting their licenses.
But who can be bothered with accuracy at a time like this? The main point is that many of the voters targeted for elimination are Hispanic people registered as Democrats or "no party affiliation." Eliminating those pesky, anti-GOP voters is crucial to your success.
Already, ThinkProgress.org reports that 385 legal citizens in Miami-Dade County were wrongly included on the purge list. Broward's elections supervisor is holding a news conference later this week to discuss her voter list.
When all is said and done, sir, you must be very proud. You've once again made Florida the nation's favorite electoral punch line. More important, you've tainted the legitimacy of the primary election and may succeed in keeping hundreds of people from voting.
Katherine Harris would be proud.
