Florida Investigating Potential Non-Citizen Voters

State looks to ax non-citizens from voter rolls

Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
May 9, 2012

TALLAHASSEE – Thousands of Florida residents may be illegally registered to vote in the state, elections officials announced Wednesday.

The Florida Departments of State and Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, comparing databases of voters and licensed drivers, have identified more than 2,600 residents – most from South Florida -- who may not be citizens and therefore not eligible to vote. The names have been turned over to local elections supervisors in the 67 counties.

"Florida voters need to know only eligible citizens can cast a ballot, and we're doing everything in our power to ensure that is the case," said Secretary of State Ken Detzner.

The bulk of the names – 2,000 – live in Miami-Dade County, with 260 more in Broward. Numbers for Palm Beach County were not immediately available. Only a handful were reported in Central Florida.

The state has been comparing its list of registered voters to a database of licensed drivers; since 2010, all applicants for new or renewal licenses have been required to show proof of immigration status. If further cross-referencing against other state databases and one maintained by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency indicates non-citizenship, the names are sent to elections supervisors.

Falsely registering to vote is a third-degree felony.

Still, the state's identification isn't foolproof, as Osceola Elections Supervisor Mary Jane Arrington found when she contacted the one name sent to her office. The man was a naturalized citizen, who brought in his citizenship papers. He also was a felon and had paperwork showing his voter rights had been fully restored.

"The gentleman was exasperated, naturally," Arrington said.

She and Seminole Elections Supervisor Michael Ertel said they often respond to suspect names generated by other agencies and take pride in proving that the other agencies – not theirs – have faulty records.

"Our database should be more sacrosanct than the other databases out there. I think, and I think most people think, that the privilege to vote is more important than the privilege to drive," Ertel said, whose office is checking six names. The Orange County supervisor's office could not be reached for comment.

Mary Cooney, director of public service at the Broward County Supervisor of Elections Office, said she'll ask the 260 people on her list to show proof of citizenship within 30 days, or they'll be removed from the rolls.

Cooney said her office could easily determine whether any ineligible voter actually cast a ballot.

County Mayor John Rodstrom said he thinks the names of anyone ineligible to vote who did vote should be turned over to the State Attorney's Office for investigation of voter fraud.

"If we have knowledge that a crime was committed, I think we are duty-bound,'' he said.

Cooney said some people register to vote for reasons other than voting, like to get a homestead exemption from property taxes.

She said she could see how a person could register mistakenly when getting a driver's license, especially if there's a language barrier.

Illegal voting investigation grows dramatically

NBC 2 Ft. Meyers
May 9, 2012

FORT MYERS, FL - The state's investigation into potential noncitizens registered to vote has nearly doubled. It's an update to an exclusive NBC2 investigation we first broke on Monday, showing state election supervisors were now investigating non-citizens registered, and in some cases, casting ballots in elections.

Originally, 1,251 voters were discovered. The Division of Elections now says it's at 2,671. Miami Dade County's Elections Supervisor's office confirms says the state has identified nearly 2,000 potential non-citizens registered in its county alone.

Television stations and newspapers across Florida are now reporting about our state-wide investigation.

"The Dept. of State is continuingly looking at and exploring new avenues to run our databases to see if there's any issues relating to eligibility," said newly appointed Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner.

The Division of Elections discovered the names after the Department of Motor Vehicles identified non-citizens who obtained drivers licenses.

It then matched those names with people registered to vote in Florida, using a methodology the NBC2 Investigators first used in February to uncover non-citizens registered and voting in Lee and Collier Counties.

Detzner wants access to a federal citizenship verification system. He plans to meet with Department of Homeland Security officials in Washington soon.

Naw, there ain't no such thing as voter fraud.

So say the liberals in this country.

TexasBlue wrote:Naw, there ain't no such thing as voter fraud.

So say the liberals in this country.

Even though it's always them being caught doing it.

TexasBlue wrote:Illegal voting investigation grows dramatically

NBC 2 Ft. Meyers
May 9, 2012

FORT MYERS, FL - The state's investigation into potential noncitizens registered to vote has nearly doubled. It's an update to an exclusive NBC2 investigation we first broke on Monday, showing state election supervisors were now investigating non-citizens registered, and in some cases, casting ballots in elections.

Originally, 1,251 voters were discovered. The Division of Elections now says it's at 2,671. Miami Dade County's Elections Supervisor's office confirms says the state has identified nearly 2,000 potential non-citizens registered in its county alone.

Television stations and newspapers across Florida are now reporting about our state-wide investigation.

"The Dept. of State is continuingly looking at and exploring new avenues to run our databases to see if there's any issues relating to eligibility," said newly appointed Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner.

The Division of Elections discovered the names after the Department of Motor Vehicles identified non-citizens who obtained drivers licenses.

It then matched those names with people registered to vote in Florida, using a methodology the NBC2 Investigators first used in February to uncover non-citizens registered and voting in Lee and Collier Counties.

Detzner wants access to a federal citizenship verification system. He plans to meet with Department of Homeland Security officials in Washington soon.

And has anyone noticed the tiny bit of information missing from both of these stories?

Just what party had these illegal voters registered with?

I can guarantee you that if these were illegal voters registering as Republicans that would have made the headline and the lead paragraph, that no party is mentioned means that they were definitely illegals registering as Democrats.

Could the MSM bias be more obvious?

Even when doing their job, they still find a way to fall down on it.

Can't disagree. If it were Repub voter fraud, ABC ad NBC would've beat this one to death already.

No wonder half of the voters are stupid.

TexasBlue wrote:Can't disagree. If it were Repub voter fraud, ABC ad NBC would've beat this one to death already.

Oh hell yeah... not just the network TV outlets, but the entire MSM universe would be trumpeting those phoney Republican voters. That they aren't is proof that they are all registering as Democrats.