Appeals Court: Florida's 2012 Voter Purge Was Illegal
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
By: Carmel Delshad

April 2, 2014 | WMFE, Orlando - A federal appeals court on ruled Tuesday that a purge of voters in Florida during the 2012 elections was illegal.

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta found that the 2012 effort to remove noncitizen voters, spearheaded by Secretary of State Ken Detzner, violated the National Voter Registration Act.

Part of the act says that voters can’t be purged within 90 days of a primary or general election. But according to the ruling, records show that people were removed from the voter rolls within that time period.

Dierdre Macnab is the president of the League of Women Voters of Florida. She says the ruling set a precedent for other states considering voter purges. 

“It’s a big win for Florida voters, but importantly, it makes a very strong statement nationally for other states who may have contemplated these kinds of activities as well," says Macnab.

Macnab also says that a lot of people were incorrectly placed on the purge list, and that any time less than the 90 day time period wouldn't give them enough time to fix the situation.

“The voter needs time in order to make sure if they have been incorrectly purged. We’ve seen it over and over again in Florida, they need time to correct the situation.”

A spokeswoman for Detzner said the office is reviewing the decision.