Report: Justice Dept. Challenges Purge Under Voting Rights Act

TAMPA (CBSMiami) – The U.S. Department of Justice has filed papers in federal court alleging Florida's voter purge of "non-citizens" violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965, according to CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald.

The filing asserted that when Florida began scrubbing the rolls, it was first required to submit the proposal to the federal government under section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Under the act, counties with a history of racial discrimination are subject to Justice Department clearance.

In Florida, Hillsborough, Collier, Hardee, Hendry, and Monroe Counties are all subject to preclearance under the act. Accordingly, the feds said Florida never submitted the paperwork for the latest voter purge.

"The Secretary of State cannot now allege that the voting practice he initiated (and that the covered counties implemented at his direction) is completely abandoned, because the change has already affected voters in the covered counties. The implementation of these new practices and procedures without preclearance violates Section 5," the filing said, according to the Herald.