Florida GOP Chair Compares Disenfranchising Voters to Stopping Drunk Drivers

[SunsetDreams]

Yesterday, Florida GOP Chair Lenny Curry released a statement defending Gov. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) plan to purge tens of thousands of voters from Florida’s voter roles. The purge is based on an error riddled list of purportedly ineligible voters which includes hundreds of eligible U.S. citizens in just one county. According to Curry, purging voters is just like a DUI checkpoint:

"This past Memorial Day weekend, law enforcement put up checkpoints to ensure drunk drivers did not threaten the safety of fellow motorists. Undoubtedly, many of the drivers who were met by police were, in fact, not driving drunk. However, we accept the notion that on such a heavily traveled holiday, a few moments of inconvenience to law-abiding drivers is worth it if we can ensure safe highways."

...

But, of course, police do not throw sober drivers in jail or take away their license. Curry’s metaphor would only make sense if Florida police randomly pulled over and jailed thousands of citizens, with little evidence they had been drinking, and then required them to show proof of their soberness before letting them out of jail. Officials in Florida are carrying out the purge by sending an ominous and legalistic letter to voters targeted as non-citizens that requires them to request “an administrative hearing to present evidence” in order to dispute the State of Florida’s determination or be removed from the voter rolls.

Moreover, the Florida voter purge disproportionately affects Hispanics and Democrats. Fifty-eight percent of the list of more than 2,600 potential non-citizens are Hispanic while Hispanics make up only 13% of Florida’s population, a fact that places Florida in likely violation of federal law. The Voting Rights Act not only forbids laws that are passed specifically to target minority voters, it also strikes down state voter procedures that have a greater impact on minority voters than on others.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/05/30/492080/florida-gop-chair-compares-disenfranchising-voters-to-stopping-drunk-drivers/

DNC Chair and Congressmen urge Gov. Scott to stop voter purge now

[freshwest]

1. They're guilty already. The elderly, poor or disabled are unable to go to a kangaroo court.

With the number of retirees, unemployed and sick people in Florida, that's a nice percentage of these criminals wiped off the rolls there.

[kestrel91316]

2. Dems need to send a strongly worded letter to FL.

[SoutherDem]

3. Using that logic discard all list and start over forcing all to reregister.

Using his example law enforcement checked only those in foreign made cars while letting all American made cars pass without a check.

[elleng]

4. Not one for logic, is he?