The arrogance of Gov. Rick Scott of Florida has no bounds. Florida will defy a federal warning that it is possibly in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1964 and the National Voter Registration Act, and therefore must immediately stop purging "suspected non-citizens" from voter registration rolls.
Huff Post:
Despite a Justice Department letter, objections from county elections officials and evidence that a disproportionate number are voters of color, Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner's office planned to continue scrubbing the election rolls, a spokesman said Friday. Gov. Rick Scott (R) ordered the search for potentially ineligible voters.
More arrogance below the strangled orange.
The full Department of Justice letter to Florida.
As pointed out in the Huff Post article, Florida is under special federal restrictions because of its history of voter suppression:
Florida is among a small number states, mostly in the South, covered by Section V of the Voting Rights Act, a 1965 law that reinforces voting rights guaranteed in the Constitution. In five Florida counties and other states, election officials have a history of such of egregious and creative efforts to suppress black and Latino votes that any changes in voting–related policy or procedure must first be approved by the Justice Department or a panel of federal judges, Browne Dianis said.
Florida failed to get clearance for its purge or its methods to identify the people the state suspects are non-citizens.
Rick Scott is obviously itching for a showdown. This appears to be one of those seminal moments. There is no doubt what Abraham Lincoln would do, nor Lyndon Johnson. The country would resoundingly back unequivocal action by Obama's Department of Justice. On the contrary, if the DOJ backed down now and allowed Rick Scott, the governor of a major state, to defy federal law with his overt attempt to purge minorities and other groups who would likely vote Democratic, it would not only be a signal to Republican governors everywhere that they are free to follow in Florida's footsteps with impunity, but it would be a sign of astounding weakness that could well cost Obama the election -- and not only because of voter suppression.
Your move, Mr. Holder.
(Note: I expected to find this diaried, but can't find that anyone has posted it. If that's not correct, I'll be happy to take this down.)
Update: It has been correctly pointed out in the comments that the deadline for the official response to the DOJ letter is June 6, and Secretary of State Detzner's statement of defiance does not constitute an official response. So, it's not yet Mr. Holder's move. Maybe this is all bluster. If so, and if the purge in fact does not resume (it's currently halted because all 67 of Florida's election supervisors have refused to continue it), it will be important that everyone who has already been purged is immediately restored as well. Clearly, that has not yet happened.