The Justice Dept. has executed a challenge to their purge. They have until June 6 to comply. It makes no difference at all that Denzer and Scott made their initial, defiant statements to continue. They can send out as many voter lists as they want, but the all of the 67 supervisors say they will have no part in processing them. They are independently elected and are not bound to follow Scott down. His purge is effectively suspended.
The legal counsel for the supervisors has advised them to wait for the challenge from Justice is resolved before resuming. Further, the president of their association says the lists don't have enough information to make a correct judgment and has also advised the supervisors to stand down:
from another Palm Beach article: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/florida-voter-purge-gets-pushback-from-elections-supervisors-2387004.html
Florida elections supervisors said Friday they will discontinue a state-directed effort to remove names from county voter rolls because they believe the state data is flawed and because the U.S. Department of Justice has said the process violates federal voting laws...
The Justice Department letter and mistakes that the 67 county elections supervisors have found in the state list make the scrub undoable, said Martin County Elections Supervisor Vicki Davis, president of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections…
"There are just too many variables with this entire process at this time for supervisors to continue," Davis said.
read: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/florida-voter-purge-gets-pushback-from-elections-supervisors-2387004.html
These supervisors aren't going to subject themselves to anything that's going to have them sanctioned by the justice Dept. or the courts. They are standing down, no matter what Scott and his comrade say they want.
Now, Scott can certainly devise another scheme to further his effort, but, remember, this letter from Justice reminds Florida that they are still subject to the Voting Rights Act and that the Justice Dept. has the authority under Section 5 of the Act (meant to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment) to review and pass judgment on such regulations to determine they aren't discriminatory. It's clear authority which was upheld by the courts in rejecting a challenge as recently as 2009. The Justice Dept. will act against Scott if he doesn't comply or state his intentions by June 6.
This is by no means the end of the process. It's a proper beginning for a federal agency reaching into a state to monitor their election. Section 5 isn't a blunt instrument. The department will investigate their procedure (and likely other aspects of their voting laws) and they will either sue Florida or sanction them. I don't know what the penalties are for non-compliance, but the Justice dept. will act to bring Florida under the letter of the law. That's what this first step is all about. That's why the supervisors' lawyer recommended they stand down. that's why their association president recommended they halt. That's why all 67 supervisors are stopping the purge where it stands.
That's 'what's going on.' It's right there in front of you. All you have to do is avert your gaze from Scott's posturing and focus on what Justice and the folks who are tasked with carrying out Scott's illegal purge are doing.
PDF of Legal Update to Supervisors
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/files/2012.06.01_-_legal_update_to_supervisors.pdf
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