Rick Scott restores some voters to rolls, but might continue noncitizen voter purge after agreement

Update: The headline was changed. The Department of State's Division of Elections says there was no settlement in this case. Instead, the two sides came to an agreement. And anyone found to be a noncitizen will be removed from the rolls. To date, the state says, there are 207 of them.

Here's the Advancement Project press release:

Breaking news… the State of Florida has agreed to several key concessions in the Advancement Project lawsuit over its voter purge (Arcia v. Detzner). They include: 

• 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.

 Here’s Advancement Project’s initial take:

“This settlement represents a historic milestone for voting rights in Florida,” said Advancement Project Co-Director Judith Browne Dianis. “It 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. The Secretary of State has agreed to abandon its practice of forcing naturalized citizens to prove their citizenship, and that is a victory for all us.”

 “The citizens of Florida have taken another step toward realizing the right to vote, without any undue barriers imposed by the state,” said Advancement Project Co-Director Penda D. Hair. “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.  We congratulate our partners: LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Project Vote, Fair Elections Legal Network, SEIU, the law firm of Jenner & Block and Gerald Hebert for their hard work in gaining this important victory for democracy.”

 The stipulation can be found here: http://www.advancementproject.org/resources/entry/florida-victory-settlement  

 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.

 Here’s Advancement Project’s initial take:

“This settlement represents a historic milestone for voting rights in Florida,” said Advancement Project Co-Director Judith Browne Dianis. “It 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. The Secretary of State has agreed to abandon its practice of forcing naturalized citizens to prove their citizenship, and that is a victory for all us.”

 “The citizens of Florida have taken another step toward realizing the right to vote, without any undue barriers imposed by the state,” said Advancement Project Co-Director Penda D. Hair. “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.  We congratulate our partners: LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Project Vote, Fair Elections Legal Network, SEIU, the law firm of Jenner & Block and Gerald Hebert for their hard work in gaining this important victory for democracy.”

 The stipulation can be found here: http://www.advancementproject.org/resources/entry/florida-victory-settlement