EXCLUSIVE: Palm Beach Elections Supervisor Rejects Florida’s Voter Purge List -Says 'Not Credible'

[kpete]

Source: Think Progress

EXCLUSIVE: Palm Beach Elections Supervisor Rejects Florida’s Voter Purge List, Says Effort Is ‘Not Credible’
By Josh Israel posted from ThinkProgress Justice on May 31, 2012 at 10:15 am

..................

Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher, a former Democratic state representative, told ThinkProgress in an interview that while the state of Florida sent her county 115 names of voters it considered “sure matches” with a list of non-citizens, her office determined the list’s documentation to be “not credible” and has not sent out letters asking for verification of citizens to any of those voters.
Bucher said:



We need to make sure we have reliable and credible information, by a preponderance of evidence. We could prove that the information was not credible before sending letters and even the Division of Elections has admitted substantial flaws. I did not feel we had credible information and told them I wouldn’t send (any letters) until they could give me a better list.

This thing is not working out so well, we know the information (on which the state relied to flag these names) is very old. They (listed the voter's) last transaction date with (the Florida Department of) Highway Safety — in many cases, (the was 2000, 2002). By now they probably have become citizens – I questioned immediately.



Bucher says that given the documented inaccuracies around the state, the purge effort should be stopped. “We just want to have accurate data—why disturb voters and ask for extraordinary information? What if they get a letter and they’re on vacation, think it’s just mail, ignore it? We hope the state cleans it up very quickly.”


Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/05/31/492632/exclusive-palm-beach-elections-supervisor-rejects-floridas-voter-purge-list-says-effort-is-not-credible/

[MinneapolisMatt]

1. Encouraging.

This issue is starting to pick up steam, thankfully.

[rocktivity]

2. Your move, DOJ.

And cue the Vonage theme!


rocktivity

[JustAnotherGen]

3. Brava!

Ms Bucher!

[lamp_shade]

4. Wow!! Thanks.

[Stuart G]

5. K and R nt. thanks for posting

[daaron]

6. Mutiny! C'mon Florida! MUTINY!!! nt

[cindyperry2010]

7. People need to start suing

[Tommy_Carcetti]

8. Glad, and thankfully not surprised.

Bucher was one of the most outspoken Democrats during her tenure in the Florida house.

[L. Coyote]

9. One county out of many, but a start.

Meanwhile, how many voters are already scrubbed?

[DallasNE]

17. I Believe The Scrub

Will not happen until after June 6th so there is a tiny amount of time to get this stopped.

[malthaussen]

10. Hoooo-bloody-rah!

Damn it, it's sad that it's so encouraging when somebody shows some spine. That woman needs to be Governor.

-- Mal

[RDANGELO]

11. I would assume that she is also the one who would take the names off the list. n/t

[kestrel91316]

12. Only one county out of HOW many??

[jwirr]

13. Good now maybe others will have the courage to follow suit.

[goclark]

14. Yes! K and R

[flamingdem]

15. K&R

[DallasNE]

16. Wrong Solution To Wrong Problem Using The Wrong Methodology

If there is a problem it is with the registeration process and fixing those problems would be the place to start. I have not heard of any problems identified nor of any proposed changes to fix those problems.

A Republican party official today told MSNBC that "we know" there are illegal people registered. Of course he did not indicate how "we know". And he said it twice so it was one of his talking points. As we learned from the 2000 felon purge the "Juan Gomez" on the voter registeration role may not be the same "Juan Gomez" they have as a match from the Highway Safety department. Now I have no problem with them doing this match but once they do they need to review the registeration record and find something wrong there before sending out a notice. Not doing this sounds like it violates the Florida law on "credible and reliable" data. There was clearly nothing "credible and reliable" with sending the notice to the 91-year old WW II war hero.

The obvious problem is that in Florida the voter registeration process is not shielded from partisam politics so changes in the law are needed in that area so the department has independence from these kinds of things.

[DonCoquixote]

21. "we know" translated

"we know" really means "we know that only White Anglo Saxon Protestants owning property should vote, only reason we let the Cubans vote is because we needed to change Florida from Democrat to Republican."

[Uncle Joe]

18. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[BattyDem]

19. Where the hell is Eric Holder on this?

[crunch60]

26. I wrote to the white house and also signed a petition for Eric Holder

to get off his butt and stop this voter purging that's going on in Florida under Gov. Rick Scott.....duh think it will do any good to ask him to do his job?

[DonCoquixote]

20. Repeat this in every county

Especially Hillsbourough and Pinellas (aka "The tampa bay area&quot and Orange (home of Orlando and Tray Martin).

[lovelyrita]

27. Sandford, where the Trayvon Martin shooting happened is in Seminole County, not Orange.

I live in Polk County and am really concerned about the election. For those of us on the ground, things are getting real scary.

[DonCoquixote]

29. OK, I stand corrected, but

Orlando is the main metro in the area, and somehwere where I am sure the GOP will try tricks.

[lovelyrita]

30. The tricks don't stop coming!

1. Changes to the voter ID laws.
2. Making early voting more difficult by opening the polls for less hours.
3. Imposing fines and ridiculous rules about when the paperwork must be turned in and who is responsible for it. This forced many third party groups who register voters to stop doing so.
4. Purging voters from the voter rolls.
5. Waiting until the last moment possible to have the maps from the redistricting available. This is making it difficult to attract candidates and imposing a burden on the county Supervisor of Elections.

There are so many problems down here, I am glad that the national media seems to have picked up on some of it. For those of us on the ground in Florida, this entire year has been a struggle against these terrible burdens to democracy.

[librechik]

22. More like this--on to the other swing states

with Republican election problems. They are attacking all of us. Very cleverly and in different ways depending on local laws. The SNAKES!!!

[Vidar]

23. Ms. Bucher is one hell of a gutsy lady.

Unfortunately, such courage is very rare among our elected Democratic officilals.

[virgdem]

24. This is great news..

my father, brother and nephews all live in Palm Beach County and I was worried about their voting status. It really does make a difference who the Supervisor of Elections is and whether they are Dems or Pubs.

[DianaForRussFeingold]

25. It looks like Susan Bucher got the ball rolling! K&R

"NEW DATA: Elections Supervisors Throughout Florida Confirm U.S. Citizens Improperly Included In Voter Purge":

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/05/31/492395/elections-supervisors-confirm-errors-voter-purge-florid/

[SoFlaJet]

28. Sue Bucher is Da Bomb

I played a party at her house in Delray Beach a few years ago