New fault in Florida's felons list pointed out

By George Bennett, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 29, 2004

An advocacy group hurled new criticism Monday at Florida's list of 47,000 voters who could be disqualified because they have been identified as potential felons.

The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University pointed to a recent letter from the Office of Executive Clemency that says its database of felons who had their rights restored might not include some people who were granted clemency prior to 1977.

The Brennan Center sent letters to all 67 Florida counties Monday urging them not to take action on the potential felon list. Under Florida's decentralized elections system, it's up to each county elections chief to review the list of potential felons in his county and determine which names should be purged from voter rolls.

The Palm Beach County attorney's office received the Brennan Center letter Monday afternoon and had not yet reviewed it, County Attorney Denise Nieman said.

Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore was not aware of the letter Monday. LePore was one of 20 elections chiefs who did not purge any suspected felons in 2000 because of concerns about the accuracy of the state's list.

LePore said Monday her office has not yet begun to review the latest list from the state, which includes more than 5,000 Palm Beach County voters.

The Office of Executive Clemency developed a database in 1998 "to store identifying information on individuals granted various forms of executive clemency," according to a June 18 letter from Executive Clemency Coordinator Janet Keels. But because of the way records were kept prior to 1977, Keels' letter states, some people whose rights were restored might not be included in the clemency database.

Even if their names are not in the database, Keels' letter says, "all felons, including those granted clemency prior to 1977, receive a certificate or a copy of the Executive Order signed by the governor and cabinet."

But Brennan Center associate counsel Jessie Allen said suggesting that a suspected felon produce a clemency certificate "seems to have put the burden on eligible voters instead of the state."