Liberals start bashing Rick Scott's response to DOJ's voter-purge demand

Rick Scott's refusal to end a noncitizen voter purge drew a few liberal rebukes.

Progress Florida: ST. PETERSBURG – Progress Florida executive director Mark Ferrulo made the following statement in response to Gov. Rick Scott Administration’s letter that he will continue purging registered voters from Florida’s rolls despite the Department of Justice calling for the purge to stop:

“It’s now crystal clear that Floridians can't trust their own governor to protect our most fundamental democratic right, the right to vote. Scott’s action today means that Floridians must rely upon the Department of Justice, our County Supervisors of Elections, and if necessary the courts, to protect the fairness of our elections.

“Today’s announcement confirms what many of us already suspected: that Rick Scott will stop at nothing to continue the GOP’s disgraceful legacy of disenfranchising voters in Florida. The fact that Gov. Scott is using the nearly nonexistent threat of voter fraud as an excuse to continue his dragnet voter purge reveals his true intention to rig the 2012 election. We call on the Department of Justice to launch an immediate investigation into Gov. Scott’s disgraceful attempt to purge eligible Florida voters, particularly Hispanic and African American U.S. citizens, from the voting rolls.”

Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton: "In his response to the Department of Justice, Governor Scott doubles down on the verifiably false assertion that Florida’s elections are at risk of being ‘diluted’ by voter fraud and blatantly ignores the thousands of legitimate voters targeted by his voter purge. It is time for the Governor of Florida to stop blaming the Department of Homeland Security for his own Administration’s violation of federal voter protection laws. Attempting to blame the Administration for his decision to proceed with this illegal purge that will strip eligible voters of their right to vote is politics at its worst. Stripping the right to vote from United States citizens is the real threat to the integrity of our elections, and that is precisely what Governor Scott’s plan will do."

As more and more Floridians find their voting rights in jeopardy, Congressman Ted Deutch has led an effort to bring national attention to a voter purge plagued by a lack of transparency, accuracy, and legal authority. Last week, after meeting with a decorated World War II veteran wrongly targeted by the purge, Congressman Deutch submitted a public records request for all communications related to the purge and the Scott Administration's concerns over supposed voter fraud.

The Brennan Center:

Florida’s Secretary of State announced today that the state will not suspend its voter purging efforts, despite a warning from the Department of Justice that it may violate federal law. The Brennan Center released the following statement:

“We are disappointed with Secretary of State Detzner’s decision to press forward with this misguided voter purge. The state’s planned purge, so close to the election, opens the door to errors, confusion, and the removal of eligible voters,” said Wendy Weiser, Director of the Democracy Program. “The Department of Justice was correct in raising a concern about this process.  The Sunshine State cannot continue to operate its election process in darkness.”

“Fortunately, many local election administrators have indicated they will not carry out the state’s plan. The opportunity for errors when conducting massive voter purges makes it imperative that purge practices be transparent, accurate, and carried out well in advance of an election. Only then can mistakes be corrected in time for a voter to cast a ballot that will count,” added Democracy Senior Counsel Myrna Pérez. “Consistent and uniform implementation of best practices will go a long way in ensuring that eligible voters are not thrown off the rolls by a stroke of the keyboard.”

 For more information on Florida’s voter purge, read this blog post from Brennan Center Senior Counsel Myrna Pérez.

Rick Scott fights DOJ, says it's protecting illegal voters more than legal ones, undermines Constitution

Gov. Rick Scott’s administration defiantly refused a federal demand to stop purging non-citizens from Florida’s voter rolls, intensifying an election-year confrontation with President Barack Obama’s administration as each side accuses the other of breaking federal law.

In a sharply worded letter, Scott’s top elections official claimed the Department of Justice doesn’t understand two federal voting laws at the heart of the dispute and was protecting potentially illegal voters more than legal ones.

Florida also accused another federal agency, the Department of Homeland Security, of violating the law by denying Florida access to a federal citizenship database.

“This hardly seems like an approach earnestly designed to protect the integrity of elections and to ensure that eligible voters have their votes counted,” said the letter, written by Scott’s hand-picked secretary of state, Ken Detzner, a fellow Republican.

Detzner also submitted a list of four questions that he wants the DOJ to answer.

In tone and substance, the letter all but dares the Justice Department to sue Florida for allegedly violating the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 1993 National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), nicknamed “motor voter.”

Last week, after the Justice Department letter came out, county election supervisors suspended the purge. Several said a list of nearly 2,700 potential non-citizen voters was unreliable.

The state’s latest action promises to escalate the debate over hunting down suspected illegal voters in the nation’s largest battleground state. Liberal groups, which requested DOJ involvement, condemned the Scott administration; conservatives praised it, slamming DOJ for its interference.

Meantime, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi refused to rule out suing Homeland Security to gain access to its database for voter-registration checking. From voting to healthcare to immigration, Scott and Bondi, both Republicans, have shown few reservations in challenging the Obama administration.

Story here

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi won't rule out suing feds over stonewalling noncitizen voter hunt

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's office won't rule out suing the Department of Homeland Security for refusing to share its citizenship database with Florida's elections division in its hunt for noncitizen voters.

"It's disappointing that the Obama Administration has been unwilling to help the Department of State ensure that we have accurate voter rolls," Bondi's office told The Miami Herald in response to an inquiry. "We still hope that the Department of State will be able to obtain the Obama Administration's cooperation without resorting to litigation, but we're monitoring the situation and believe Florida needs to keep all of its options open."

Bondi, a Republican, has already been a lead in suing the Obama Administration over ObamaCare. The noncitizen voter purge is highly popular with Republicans (and perhaps independents and many Democrats as well). So it wouldn't be a surprise if she took the feds to court over this.

Federal law (8 USC; 1373 to be exact), says the "Immigration and Naturalization Service shall respond to an inquiry by a Federal, State, or local government agency, seeking to verify or ascertain the citizenship or immigration status of any individual within the jurisdiction of the agency for any purpose authorized by law, by providing the requested verification or status information."

Is DHS breaking the law? It won't say. It won't comment. Perhaps there's an out: INS technically no longer exists.

Former Justice lawyer and GOP appointee Hans von Spakovsky said the state should sue. More here on that

League of Women Voters to kick off registration drive after fed court smackdown of FL crackdown law

From a press release:

Orlando, FL - In the wake of last week's decision by Judge Robert Hinkle of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Florida, the League of Women Voters of Florida and Rock the Vote held a press conference on Wednesday, June 6 to announce their intention to resume voter registration in Florida. 
 
Although both organizations successfully registered voters prior to 2011, the passage of HB 1355 established onerous and impracticable requirements for third-party voter registration groups such as the League and Rock the Vote, causing them to suspend their registration efforts in the state.
 
On May 31, Judge Hinkle preliminarily blocked major portions of the law, finding several sections to be burdensome and likely unconstitutional including the 48-hour deadline for return of completed forms.
 

GOP Senate kill shot: Connie Mack endorsed by former Gov. Jeb Bush.

Most endorsements don't really mean much in a political campaign. We blog them because they're indicative of a certain aspect of a candidate's campaign and constituency.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush isn't one of those endorsements.

He's a big effing deal in Republican circles. There's a reason guys like Rep. Connie Mack and former interim Sen. George LeMieux call themselves "Jeb Bush Republicans." Not "George Bush Republicans."

Too bad for LeMieux that Mack is getting endorsed by Jeb Bush, whose son Jeb Bush Jr. is solidly in Mack's camp already. If Mack's name ID and double-digit lead weren't enough to polish off LeMieux, this is the kill shot. To quote Othello before he strangles Desdemona: Put out the light, and then put out the light.

Jeb Bush presided over one of Florida's most-prosperous periods and had strong poll numbers throughout his tenure. The Republican candidates for president would have died to be endorsed by him in the just-ended GOP primary. Sure, Jeb has relatively soft immigration stances (considering the state of the GOP) and recently criticized the tax pledge of Grover Norquist, who said the former governor doesn't know how the"game" of Washington is played. But stances and comments like that are what make Bush such an attractive figure in politics and media.

Here's the press release:

“Connie Mack is the principled conservative that the people of Florida deserve representing them in the U.S. Senate. Connie has the courage, conservative values, experience and determination to confront the tough issues facing our nation. We must return conservatives to the majority in the U.S. Senate.  Connie is the person Floridians’ need in Washington working with Senator Marco Rubio to reduce our national debt and limit out-of-control spending.”
 
Thanking Governor Bush for his endorsement, Mack stated:
 
“I am truly humbled to receive the support of Governor Bush, a man whose service and dedication to this state serves as an example to anyone in public service. His tireless efforts on behalf of Florida’s children, particularly in the area of education, are unmatched, and his strong support in communities across Florida is a testament to his leadership ability. It is an honor to call Jeb Bush a friend. I thank him for his support and his leadership, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with him in the months and years ahead.”
 
Governor Bush’s endorsement follows a series of conservative endorsements for Mack, including Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney, U.S. Senator Rand Paul, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Governor Luis Fortuño and a growing number of the Florida Congressional delegation.

 

 

George LeMieux files qualifying paperwork, says he’s ready to take on Connie Mack IV

George LeMieux traveled to Tallahassee to file his qualifying paperwork in person Wednesday as he attempts to return to the U.S. Senate. He said he feels good about the Aug. 14 Republican primary against U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV even though LeMieux is way down in the polls.

“I’m running against 100 years of name recognition, but it’s not his name recognition, it’s his father’s,” LeMieux said. “And I think a lot of Floridians haven’t focused on this race yet.”

He added that his campaign will continue to educate voters about “which Connie Mack is on the ballot.”

Former GOP Justice lawyer: DOJ erred and DHS broke the law in fighting FL's noncitizen voter purge

The Department of Justice acted politically and erred in demanding Florida cease its purge of noncitizen voters, according to a conservative former Justice lawyer who helped enforce federal voting laws for years.

The Justice Department’s voting-rights section said last week that Florida’s attempted purge probably broke federal law because the 1965 Voting Rights Act requires federal permission for the program and the 1993 National Voter Registration Act bans voter purges within 90 days of a federal election.

“If this ended up in court, the DOJ would lose,” said Hans von Spakovsky, with the conservative Heritage Foundation. “The justice department doesn’t have a basis in the statutes they’re citing.”

But von Spakovsky and other Republican lawyers say the law probably has been broken – but by the federal government itself.

Under federal law, the Department of Homeland Security is supposed to furnish citizenship information to the state for, among other things, checking voter registration rolls. But DHS, first asked for the data in mid October 2011, has refused, email correspondence shows.

A DHS spokesman refused comment on whether the agency is breaking the law.

Latvala to stay in put in North Pinellas district, instead of challenging Brandes

Republican Sen. Jack Latvala of Clearwater confirms he'll file qualifying papers to run in the redrawn Senate District 20 in North Pinellas.

His decision ends speculation that the longtime Pinellas lawmaker might run in District 22, where first-term Rep. Jeff Brandes and Rep. Jim Frishe will meet in a Republican primary. "I'm going to run in District 20. That's the district I live in," Latvala said Wednesday. The compact district covers all of North Pinellas north of Ulmerton Road. 

Latvala, a candidate for Senate president in 2016, had considered challenging Brandes whom he doesn't count as a supporter for his Senate presidency bid. The Herald/Times mapped out the impact of this year's elections on the continuing Senate presidency fight here.

New Surfside commissioner taking on Rep. Joe Gibbons

Updated with comments from Gibbons:

Today we caught up with Democrat Sheldon Lisbon, elected to the Surfside City Commission in March who recently announced he is challenging state Rep. Joe Gibbons (D-Hallandale Beach) in District 100.

Gibbons, first elected in 2006 and a former city commissioner, has the advantage of incumbency, name recognition and $24,800 raised while Lisbon is jumping in with less than three months before the primary. But Gibbons may not be as well-known in Miami-Dade as he is in Broward and the newly drawn district is now 57-43 Miami-Dade/Broward.

Gibbons says those numbers aren't a major challenge. He said the district includes about one-quarter of his former legislative district and much of Hallandale Beach, the city where he was elected as a commissioner at-large. Gibbons said he has longer roots in the community than his opponent -- Gibbons has lived in Florida  since 1994, the bulk of that time in Broward, and has been involved with community organizations including as a board member of the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center in Hollywood.

Lisbon said there was a mistake on his press release -- he has lived in Surfside since 2006, not 1996.

But we were more interested in why Lisbon wanted to take on a fellow Democrat to toil in a Republican-dominated state Legislature. Lisbon said he had no specific criticisms of Gibbons in terms of the issues or votes.

Lisbon described himself as a "moderate Lieberman type Democrat" -- a reference to the Democrat turned independent Connecticut U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman. And he described himself as someone who can compromise with the other side.

Lisbon is a longtime teacher who currently teaches government and history at Jewish schools in North Miami Beach.

"Florida is 50th out of 50th behind Alabama as far as the level of education we are giving our children," he said.

Education rankings can be tricky -- the state's ranking depends on the year of data being cited and the criteria. Here's a fact-check from PolitiFact about a similar claim made by Bud Chiles but note that was in 2010 so more recent educational rankings might be available.

 

 

Tension, profanity, police & a senior threatening to cane a liberal. Just another Allen West event in Boca

If Allen West doesn't become unglued or say something controversial, it's a good bet that one of his supporters or opponents will.

At the Mae Volen center in Boca Raton, a few liberals tried to confront West who was walled off from them by supportes, according to a May 30 BizPac Review video we just saw of the event last week. One woman got bent out of shape when West referred to his liberal protesters, who follow him from event to event, as "groupies.

Islam-critic Tom Trento, shooting video along with at least three others (the Shark Tank's Javier Manjarres and BizPac camera woman), told the liberal protester "You're in over your head." Finally, the woman called one of the West supporters "an obnoxious little man" and then flicked him, saying  "fuck you."

An elderly conservative then got ornery, shoving the liberal younger woman.

"Hey, don't you touch him," the conservative said, brandishing her cane. "I'll wrap this around your head!"

A police officer stopped her. The elderly woman complained about her kneee and said that the younger woman "shoved me." The video doesn't really indicate that. Police escorted her out. At one point, someone seems to say "can you start another fight for me?"

Then came Palm Beach County liberal Tony Fransetta, with the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, who appeared to tell a police officer that the younger woman was threatened.

Manjarres: "We're threatening you? We're not threatening you."

Trento: "Why do you say crazy stuff like that? Why do you have to lie like that?"

Asked his name as three cameras trained on him, Fransetta said: "My name is Joe Blow Weatherman Channel 8 watch me tomorrow night.... You think you're slick with your little phone. I've got one too. I know very good about technology and all. And my name is Joe Blow Weatherman Channel 8 and who do you represent."

As Fransetta said it, he leaned in to the BizPac camera woman who said: "Is there a reason you're touching me. Is there a reason you're pushing me? What are you here for?

Fransetta then walked up to Manjarres's camera: "What's your name?"

My name is Javier Manjarres. I'm with the Shark Tank blog. You're name is what? Blew Joe?

Fransetta, walking away: "My name Joe Blow Weatherman Channel 8."

Manjarres: "I understand you blew Joe or something."