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Florida May Purge 47,000 From Voting Polls

HeadlineJun 08, 2004

The state of Florida has identified 47,000 more voters in the state that are potential felons who may be purged from voting rolls and stripped of their right to vote in the upcoming presidential election. The secretary of state Glenda Hood, who was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush, has passed this list onto county officials who must determine if the individuals are eligible to vote — convicted felons are barred from voting in Florida. Critics of Florida’s voting procedures say the state is using the same flawed database to determine voter eligibility that was used in 2000 to purge thousands of qualified names from the voting rolls. While Hood has denied politics play a role in the creation of the to-be-purged list, almost a third of those listed reside in three heavily Democratic counties in South Florida: Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. CNN is suing the state to release the list of 47,000. On Friday Florida Sen. Bill Nelson announced he would file a court brief on behalf of CNN’s efforts. Meanwhile Florida state senator Mandy Dawson is seeking a constitutional amendment to restore voting rights to Florida’s felons who have completed their sentences.

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