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In the latest volley in the ongoing battle over Florida voter lists, the Justice Department has sent a letter stating it will take legal action against the state, citing violations of voting rights laws.

"Because the State has indicated its unwillingness to comply with these requirements, I have authorized the initiation of an enforcement action against Florida in federal court," said Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Thomas Perez.

The lawsuit comes after the department began questioning the legality of the state's so-called voter purge program, which would remove names from Florida's voter rolls months before the 2012 presidential election, when Florida will play a key role as a battleground state with a large chunk of electoral votes.

Florida's move to eliminate non-eligible voters from its lists began after the state's Republican governor, Rick Scott, pressed the state to identify non-U.S. citizens who had registered to vote illegally.

Using information from Florida's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, the state identified more than 100,000 names of non-eligible voters that could potentially be on the lists illegally.

Critics say the plan unfairly targets minorities, and paint it as an attempt to dissuade typically Democratic voters from going to the polls.

While the Justice Department notes that states can legally remove non-eligible voters from their lists, the letter Monday argues that the Florida program does not comply with legal standards has "critical imperfections, which lead to errors that harm and confuse eligible voters."

The letter states that the Florida program improperly uses the information collected from old driver's license applications.

"The information is often going to be outdated, as a number of persons will subsequently have become citizens and lawfully registered to vote," Perez wrote.

It also suggests that the removal process has been going on during a "90-day quiet period" prior to the August 14 primary election.

"Please immediately cease this unlawful conduct," the letter states.

Three of the state's largest counties - Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach - agreed last week to end the removal of the names. The legal counsel for Florida's county election officials recommended halting the purge of names until the state responded to the federal government's legal assessment.

Florida's Republican-appointed secretary of state, Ken Detzner, has previously defended the state's practice.

"It is an unfortunate but now undeniable fact that Florida's voter rolls include individuals who are not citizens of the United States. The Florida Department of State has a solemn obligation to ensure the integrity of elections in this State," Detzner wrote in the letter last week addressed to T. Christian Herren, head of the Justice Department's elections unit. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/11/doj-says-it-will-sue-f
lorida-over-voting-rolls-purge/: HAH! Like this has ANYTHING to do with potential "illegal voters", or that any thinking person in the country believes it does for a minute! Let's hope they can stop them...in time! If the DOJ sues, does that mean the purge is suspended until the outcome of the lawsuit, or do they get to go right on doing it, thereby handing the Republicans a SECOND election?

Apparently Florida gave 'em the finger. From the letter:

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Based on your June 3, it appears that the state of FLorida is unwilling to conform its behavior to the requirements of federal law.Letter at http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2012/images/06/11/doj.pdf

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Ushered in amid promises that it would save taxpayers money and deter drug users, a Florida law requiring drug tests for people who seek welfare benefits resulted in no direct savings, snared few drug users and had no effect on the number of applications, according to recently released state data.

Because the Florida law requires that applicants who pass the test be reimbursed for the cost, an average of $30, the cost to the state was $118,140. This is more than would have been paid out in benefits to the people who failed the test. As a result, the testing cost the government an extra $45,780.

And the testing did not have the effect some predicted. An internal document about Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, caseloads stated that the drug testing policy, at least from July through September, did not lead to fewer cases.

“We saw no dampening effect on the caseload,” the document said. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/18/us/no-savings-found-in-florida-welfa
re-drug-tests.html]

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