In a case filed by civil rights organizations surrounding Florida's efforts to purge its voter rolls of suspected noncitizens, the state agreed on Wednesday to several concessions in a settlement that Advancement Project Co-Director Judith Brown Dianis says "represents a historic milestone for voting rights in Florida," and "will ensure that naturalized citizens, the majority of whom are Latino, black and Asian, have the same opportunities as all Americans to participate in our political process and exercise the most fundamental right in our democracy — the right to vote."
According to Advancement Project's press release on the news, the state of Florida agreed to the following concessions:
Restore to the voter rolls any individual from the list of potential non-citizens (the 2600 person list) who was removed from the voter rolls and whom the Supervisors of Elections cannot confirm as non-citizens in the SAVE database.
Send a notice to all registered voters who received letters in April (the letters informing them that they may not be eligible to vote) informing them that they are indeed registered to vote, excluding individuals confirmed to be non-citizens.
The inclusion of anyone’s name on the list of potential non-citizens should not be interpreted as a determination of his or her eligibility to vote
No one should have to vote a provisional ballot simply because his or her name appeared on the list of potential non-citizens.
In exchange, Plaintiffs will dismiss their discrimination claims (under Section 2 of the voting rights act, and section 8(b)(1) of the NVRA). The 90-day claim — section 8(c) of the NVRA — will remain alive for now.
"The lawsuit and settlement show that all citizens should have the same right to cast a ballot without confronting unfounded questions about their eligibility to vote," said Advancement Project Co-Director Penda D. Hair.
Read more at the Advancement Project.