Florida Still Has 30,000 Felons on Voter Rolls

In a stunning development, felon Democrats outnumber felon Republicans.

More than 30,000 Florida felons who by law should have been stripped of their right to vote remain registered to cast ballots in this presidential battleground state, a Sun Sentinel investigation has found.

Many are faithful voters, with at least 4,900 turning out in past elections.

Another 5,600 are not likely to vote Nov. 4 — they're still in prison.

Of the felons who registered with a party, Democrats outnumber Republicans more than two to one.

Florida's elections chief, Secretary of State Kurt Browning, acknowledged his staff has failed to remove thousands of ineligible felons because of a shortage of workers and a crush of new registrations in this critical swing state.

A crush of new registrations. Hmmm. Can you say ACORN, boys and girls?

Browning said he was not surprised by the newspaper's findings. "I'm kind of shocked that the number is as low as it is," he said.

Asked how many ineligible felons may be on Florida's rolls, Browning said, "We don't know."

The Division of Elections has a backlog of more than 108,000 possible felons who have registered to vote since January 2006 that it hasn't had the time or staff to verify. Browning estimated that about 10 percent, once checked, would be ineligible.

"This is part of a big mess," said Jeff Manza, professor of sociology at New York University and author of a book on felon voting. "It's almost certain there will be challenges if the election is close enough that things hinge on this. Both parties are armed to the teeth with legal talent in all the battleground states."

Hard to believe this can happen in the land of the hanging chad, isn't it?

Florida registers voters largely on an honor system, asking applicants to affirm on a signed form that they are not convicted felons or that their rights have been restored. State law requires the Elections Division to conduct criminal records checks only after voters are added to the rolls, and it takes months or even years to remove those who are ineligible, the Sun Sentinel found.

"It's scandalous, really," said Lance deHaven-Smith, professor of public policy at Florida State University. "Why do they have to cull the rolls after they get registered? They shouldn't get on the rolls in the first place."

No kidding.

Actually, it's not scandalous. It's completely insane.

Clinton Appointee Blocks Florida Voter Registration Law

The Democrats have been throwing a temper tantrum for seven years now after their unsuccessful attempt to steal the 2000 election for Al Gore.

Since then, new procedures have gone into place. Nothing draconian, just simple rules requiring voters to have valid driver's licenses or Social Security numbers validated in databases.

Well, that's just not fair, according to Clinton appointee Stephan Mickle.

A federal judge blocked enforcement Tuesday of a Florida law that prevents people from registering to vote if officials cannot match their Social Security or driver's license numbers to federal or state databases.

With six weeks before the state's presidential primary, U.S. District Judge Stephan Mickle issued a temporary injunction against the law, which is meant to prevent election fraud.

"The court recognized that this law is in direct conflict with federal laws designed after the 2000 election debacle to make sure every eligible citizen can have their vote counted," said plaintiffs' lawyer Justin Levitt, who is with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.

Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning maintained the state law complies with federal ones and said he would immediately appeal.

"I also think it is unwise to introduce such a major change in Florida's election procedure on the eve of Florida's presidential preference primary," Browning said.

Three civil rights organizations argued the statute violates federally protected voting rights because the databases are unreliable and the matching process is prone to human error, computer glitches and other problems.

"There could be typos," said Elizabeth Westfall, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers. "Someone could be using their married name, but their Social Security number might be entered under their maiden name."

The use of two last names by Hispanics and nontraditional names or spellings favored by many blacks put them at greater risk of error, said Westfall, an attorney with the Advancement Project, a civil rights legal group based in Washington.

Democrats just can't bear to have clean and fair elections.

They might not ever win anything.