180,000 people purged from voting rolls in Florida

While Florida’s Republican governor Rick Scott, claims that the decision to purge at least 180,000 people from the rolls, is not a “partisan” decision, the rights groups accuse the state authorities of implementing the measure purely on political grounds.

According to the minority activists, the measure is primarily aimed at targeting the poor people as well as the people of color who will most likely vote in favor of the Democratic Party in the forthcoming November presidential elections.

Saying that democracy is turned upside down, the Democratic Senator Bill Nelson who is among those who oppose the purging process; stated that ‘what they [the state authorities] ought to do, is to ensure the credibility of our voter rolls, not suppress citizens from voting under the fiction of some perceived fraud.’

The state of Florida was the center of controversy twelve years ago, when former US President George W. Bush was declared winner of the 2000 presidential elections after hundreds of Florida votes in favor of the Democratic Party contender Al Gore, were disallowed.

The US law prohibits purging voters less than three months before the election is held.

While Florida authorities continue purging voters from the rolls, the US Justice Department’s lawsuit against the state of Florida was responded not only by Scott’s ignorance of the request but also by his countersuit against the federal government.