DEMOCRATS 3 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE FELONS IN FLORIDA...

[AGAINST SOCIALISM]

State purges 7,000 felons from voting rolls


The system of regaining voting rights in Florida after a felony
conviction is so lengthy and strict that many will likely never vote
again.

BY STEVE BOUSQUET AND CAROLYN EDDS
HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU

TALLAHASSEE -- As Florida scours its voter rolls in search of non-U.S.
citizens, another form of purging continues: stripping convicted
felons of the ability to vote, including high numbers of Democrats and
African-Americans.

In the first four months of 2012, election supervisors removed nearly
7,000 voters from the rolls following recent felony convictions. The
system of regaining voting rights in Florida is so lengthy and strict
that many will likely never vote again.

The Herald/Times analyzed state data that included the name, address,
date of birth, party affiliation, age and race of 6,934 purged voters
from January through April. In Florida, a felony conviction means the
loss of civil rights, including the right to vote, serve on a jury or
run for office.

According to the data, Democrats were three times more likely than
Republicans to be removed. Blacks were almost as likely as whites to
be removed (44 percent of those removed were white; 43 percent were
blacks), while blacks make up 16 percent of the state’s population.

“It’s good news that only 7,000 voters committed new crimes out of out
of almost 11 million voters statewide,” said Reggie Garcia, a
Tallahassee lawyer and clemency expert. “It’s bad news that they are
disproportionately African-American, Democrat and presumably males.”

Democrats account for 51 percent of felons removed from the rolls so
far this year and Republicans account for 17 percent. Voters of no
party affiliation made up 23 percent and minor-party voters made up
the rest.

Pockets of Tampa and Jacksonville are home to the most purged voters
in 2012, according to voters’ zip codes. Jacksonville, the state’s
largest city, accounts for 928 removals, about one of seven felons
swept from the rolls, even though the rate of violent crime declined
there by 3.3 percent from 2010 to 2011.

The system for removing felons from the Florida voter rolls is similar
to that for noncitizens, who must respond to a certified letter within
30 days or face removal.

Soon after taking office, Gov. Rick Scott asked the state’s chief
elections official, Kurt Browning, whether noncitizens were voting
illegally in Florida.

Browning said Florida didn’t screen voters for citizenship, but the
voting application noted that lying about citizenship is perjury,
punishable by up to five years in prison.

“He was concerned about noncitizens being registered and voting,” said
Browning, who has since resigned and is now a candidate for Pasco
County school superintendent. “I don’t want it portrayed that the
governor was on some crusade to rid the rolls of noncitizens. We had a
conversation. This was a concern of his, as it was mine, and still
is.”

Their talk occurred on the newly elected Scott’s first visit to the
Department of State as he made field trips to state agencies.

One of Scott’s first major decisions as governor was to enact rules
that made it harder for ex-felons to regain their voting rights. Scott
and all three fellow Republicans on the Cabinet required ex-felons to
be crime-free for five years before petitioning the state to regain
their civil rights, as the state is simultaneously coping with a
backlog of more than 100,000 pending cases.

Scott spokesman Brian Burgess said felons must be off the rolls
regardless of their backgrounds.

“The law applies to everyone equally,” Burgess said. “It’s the job of
election supervisors to make sure the voter rolls conform with the
law.”

While the purging process may be color- and party-blind, the figures
suggest the justice system might not be. Blacks comprise 16 percent of
the state’s population, yet accounted for 44 percent of admissions to
the state prison system last year. Blacks also identify overwhelmingly
with the Democratic Party.

University of Florida political scientist Daniel Smith said the
numbers tell a disturbing story: that Florida’s system of civil rights
revocation — which was a 19th century Jim Crow effort to remove blacks
from the rolls — is still performing that function.

“Given the past history of racial discrimination in Florida, it raises
a serious question as to what the real intent here is,” Smith said.
“All kinds of people commit felonies in Florida. What we see here is a
clear racial and partisan pattern.”

The state elections division sees it differently.

“Obviously we’re not targeting demographic groups,” said spokesman
Chris Cate. “If they’re ineligible to vote, they need to be removed.”

Tampa Bay Times researcher Natalie Watson and contributed to this
report, and information from The Associated Press was used.

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I place economy among the 1st and most important virtues, and public
debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared. To preserve our
independence we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.
If we run into such debt we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in
our necessities and in our comforts, in our labor and amusements. If
we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people
under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy. Thomas
Jefferson, The Notes, page 109.

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you;
ask what you can do for your country. John F. Kennedy, January 20,
1961.