# Florida Congressman Demands Gov. Rick Scott ‘Immediately Suspend’ Voter Purge **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 25, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092 "2012-05-25T19:13:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/81 "2012-08-06T02:54:35Z")
The federal intervention should have been to give them access to a reliable database. The position of Democrats, despite the fact that HAVA is the law of the land, is that voter purges just should not happen under any circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/82 "2012-08-06T02:57:52Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I’m not adamant that we have to have purges, just that the federal government not interfere with a legal state process. A lot of people on your side were saying just the opposite about Florida’s legal state processes in 2000. FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/83 "2012-08-06T03:55:22Z")
Face it. The republicans in florida are pissed off that Obama managed to squeak out a victory there in 2008, and they will guarantee it won’t happen again, by any means possible. That’s all there is to it. How anyone can think differently is way, way beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/84 "2012-08-06T04:29:07Z")
Getting non-citizens off the roles is a legitimate endeavour. In fact, we owe it to citizens to not be disenfranchised by non-citizen votes cancelling their own. ---
**Author:** ![Untoward\_Parable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Untoward\_Parable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Untoward_Parable)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/85 "2012-08-06T07:27:42Z")
If you support these voter suppression actions you are a racist. Its as simple as that. You believe that it’s worth it to disenfranchise minorities of their voice in elections to get what you want out of them. You are willing to dehumanize minority racial groups for your benefit. Own up to it, or give up the dishonor of supporting racism. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/86 "2012-08-06T07:47:22Z")
If you really believe voter purges are inherently racist, then advocate to have the law changed. voter lists must be maintained. Otherwise the system has no integrity. ---
**Author:** ![Untoward\_Parable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Untoward\_Parable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Untoward_Parable)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/87 "2012-08-06T07:57:11Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > If you really believe voter purges are inherently racist, then advocate to have the law changed. voter lists must be maintained. Otherwise the system has no integrity. Channeling racist aims through legalistic and bureaucratic mechanisms does not purge the intent of racism. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/88 "2012-08-06T08:35:21Z")
And playing the race card does not purge the intent of cheating to win. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/89 "2012-08-06T10:50:28Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > And playing the race card does not purge the intent of cheating to win. Indeed it doesn’t. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/90 "2012-08-06T10:50:49Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > In fact, we owe it to citizens to not be disenfranchised by non-citizen votes cancelling their own. Not disenfranchisement. Just ask Bricker. Not to mention, these hypothetical non-citizen votes aren’t even voting as a bloc against hypothetical “disenfranchised” citizens. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/91 "2012-08-06T11:09:22Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Are you seriously denying the existence of walking-around money? I’m going to second the request for evidence, since this is illegal and the only place I’ve seen it talked about was in a fiction novel. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/92 "2012-08-06T12:54:45Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > If you really believe voter purges are inherently racist, then advocate to have the law changed. voter lists must be maintained. Otherwise the system has no integrity. Come on, adaher. Even you don’t believe that all voter purges can’t possibly be racist. You know history better than that. And you know that the remedy for racism is not just changing the law. You know about the 14th amendment and the Voting Rights Act. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/93 "2012-08-06T12:56:42Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > And playing the race card does not purge the intent of cheating to win. If the race card is real, though, it trumps (get it?) efforts to stop cheating. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/94 "2012-08-06T12:57:54Z")
> [@Untoward\_Parable](#): > > If you support these voter suppression actions you are a racist. Its as simple as that. You believe that it’s worth it to disenfranchise minorities of their voice in elections to get what you want out of them. You are willing to dehumanize minority racial groups for your benefit. Own up to it, or give up the dishonor of supporting racism. Wow. Even me, a liberal who opposes racist purges, is offended by your comment. I will not have you dictating what I believe. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/95 "2012-08-06T13:03:06Z")
You needn’t worry, as no one is likely to bother. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/96 "2012-08-06T13:05:21Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > And now to the credit where credit is due department: the Florida electoral officials who are telling Scott to stuff it are mostly (entirely?) Republicans. Dare we hope that a spark of sanity still persists? We do dare. Do dare. If they were sane, they’d stop being Republicans. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/97 "2012-08-06T13:53:27Z")
I also know the history of dead people voting. Voter lists aren’t maintained for no reason. If we’re not going to maintain them, there’s not even any point in bothering with registration. Just do the purple thumb thing Iraqis do. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/98 "2012-08-06T14:24:17Z")
I don’t see how one goes from “legal obligation to maintain accurate voting lists” to “systematic effort to make voting lists less accurate”. And it’s already been shown that these purges are disenfranchising more legitimate voters than illegitimate ones, in other words, making the lists less accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/99 "2012-08-06T14:33:06Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > If they were sane, they’d stop being Republicans. 😃 Hey now. We’re trying to encourage the reasonable ones to take their party back, not scare them away. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092/100 "2012-08-06T15:30:05Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > A lot of people on your side were saying just the opposite about Florida’s legal state processes in 2000. > > FWIW. Which side is he on? And does he have to agree with “his side”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-congressman-demands-gov-rick-scott-immediately-suspend-voter-purge/623092.md?page=6)