CNN contributor Roland Martin is annoyed with Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who he argues is doing his level best to harass the voters of the Sunshine State. Now, Martin explains, the state has begun the process of purging voting rolls, a move that in the past has resulted in eligible citizens wrongly stricken.
Now there is nothing wrong with any state ensuring that those who are eligible to vote are American citizens. But when it comes to Florida, they didn't even take the necessary precautions to ensure that folks who are legal citizens wouldn't be a part of their purge process.
The big question is, why now? Why would Florida, with a statewide vote coming up in 90 days, choose now of all times to do this?
That's a question the Department of Justice is asking.
T. Christian Herren, chief lawyer in the DOJ's voting rights division, wrote a two-page letter to Florida officials asking why they chose to make this move without consulting the feds, an apparent violation of the Voting Rights Act.
Civil rights groups are naturally outraged because in 2000 Florida purged thousands from its rolls. Most of them were minority, and a substantial number were law-abiding residents who never should have been stricken.
Read Roland Martin's entire piece at CNN.
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