PFAW Foundation Calls on Attorney General Ashcroft to Investigate Florida Purge Practices

 

Possible Violations of Federal Civil Rights Law

July 22, 2004

The Honorable John Ashcroft
Attorney General of the United States
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear Attorney General Ashcroft:

I write today to request an immediate investigation into the possible violation of federal civil rights law by state election officials in Florida. Recent news reports strongly suggest that state officials knowingly approved a plan to implement a purge of “potential felons” from state rolls that disproportionately affected African-American voters while excluding Hispanic voters. If these reports are true, they indicate potential civil and criminal wrong-doing under the 1965 Voting Rights Act and other civil rights legislation.

As you are no doubt aware, state officials for months defended the list and insisted that county election officials use it to purge voters from the rolls. When the news media challenged the secrecy of the list under Florida’s open records law, the state hired outside lawyers to defend a law Florida’s own Attorney General refused to defend. Only after the news media won its lawsuit, forcing public disclosure of the list, was the exclusion of Hispanics discovered. State officials, including Secretary of State Glenda Hood and Governor Jeb Bush, insisted that the disproportionate racial impact of the list was unforeseen and unintentional.

Just yesterday, new evidence emerged that state officials knew that the list would disproportionately affect African Americans as early as 1997 or 1998. A spokesperson for the company now known ChoicePoint, which the state hired at great cost to develop the 2000 list, said in news reports published July 20 that the company briefed the state six years ago on the racial disparity that would result. (I have enclosed copies of the news clips from Florida for your convenience.)

Mr. Attorney General, the news that the same racial disparity affected the “potential felon” purge lists in both 2000 and 2004, and the fact that state officials knew of the disparity in advance of both elections, has grave implications. It strains credulity to think that a mistake of this magnitude was reported to state officials and was somehow forgotten or ignored for years to survive in a second purge list.

The possible criminal implications are only part of the damage that has been done. It has been widely noted in the coverage of this issue that in Florida, Hispanics tend to vote Republican and African-Americans tend to vote Democratic. The suggestion of political motivation suggests not only a willful refusal to correct the problem, but a “divide and conquer” strategy that insults Hispanics, African-Americans, and fair-minded citizens of any political party.

Mr. Attorney General, the only way to restore voter confidence in the conduct of Florida elections is to launch an immediate, independent investigation. I urge you to appoint a Special Counsel, and exercise your authority under 28 C.F.R. §600 to remove the counsel from the normal operations of the Justice Department, and to mitigate any potential conflicts of interest that arise from the highly charged political environment in the state of Florida. Voters will be reassured only if this task is carried out by a respected appointee of unquestioned integrity, who is not linked to any political party or partisan endeavor.

The investigation must pursue these questions:

Have there been violations of federal civil rights law by state officials who knowingly allowed a racially discriminatory voting policy to move forward?

Has the conduct of elections in the state of Florida, past and present, been compromised by these actions?

Considering the history in Florida, the controversy that swirled around the 2000 elections, the fact that the last presidential election was decided in that state by just 537 votes, and the knowledge that the 2004 Florida primary is just five weeks away, and the general election is just three months away, the issue takes on even greater urgency.

Nothing less than the conduct of a free and fair election is at stake. The citizens of Florida and the nation have the right to expect that every citizen of that state will have the opportunity to cast a vote that will be counted. It is the responsibility of the Justice Department to insure the integrity of the elections. I urge you to move with all speed to reassure the people of Florida, the nation and the world that we will not see a repeat of the chaos of the 2000 elections.

Sincerely,

Ralph G. Neas
President