The federal government will give Florida access to a law enforcement database to cross-check its voter rolls in an attempt to find and purge illegal voters, a shift in administration policy from early June, the Associated Press reports.
Florida is engaging in a systematic effort to remove non-citizens from its rolls and pursued access to the federal database for citizenship data. But until now, the Obama administration had denied that access. In early June, Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security for access to the database. The AP reports that the federal government shifted its policy after a court decision on another voter purge case came out in favor of the state.
Florida's purge is an effort condemned by many civil rights groups as an unlawful attempt to dampen voter turnout. Florida officials say they are simply enforcing the law.
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