In a bold move in the fight for election integrity, the State of Florida hit the Biden Administration yesterday with a “major lawsuit” over claims it is refusing to verify immigration records and allow the purging of noncitizens from voter registration rolls.
🚨BREAKING🚨
Florida just sued the Biden-Harris DHS for refusing to “verify immigration records so that the Sunshine State can ensure the integrity of its voter rolls and prevent noncitizens from voting.” pic.twitter.com/VTKE0OJqpr
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) October 17, 2024
Voters have been found on the Florida state rolls who are suspected of being immigrants without the right to vote, according to a Bloomberg Law article, but Florida election officials are alleging they are unable to verify the information because of a refusal to comply with information requests by the Biden Administration.
In some circumstances—the number of cases Florida didn’t disclose—investigators using state and federal databases couldn’t determine if a registered voter should be denied a ballot. Federal immigration officials must help the state by turning over special identifiers for immigrants, if they exist, Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) said in the state’s complaint filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida Wednesday.
“Without further information from DHS, Florida is unable to fulfill its statutory duties to ensure the integrity of its elections and maintain accurate voter registration records,” Moody said. “Florida’s inability to carry out its statutory obligations inflicts sovereign injury upon the state.”
The case is Florida v. Dep’t Homeland Sec., N.D. Fla., No. 3:24-cv-00509, complaint filed 10/16/24.
The story broke this morning just a few hours ago after Fox News obtained a copy of the lawsuit in which Florida states that the DHS has a mandated responsibility to respond to inquiries from “state or local governments” when they are seeking to verify immigration status information of someone in their jurisdiction for lawful purposes.
BREAKING: Biden admin slapped with major lawsuit over alleged refusal to help state purge noncitizens from voter rolls https://t.co/XLWGLxN2sl
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 17, 2024
Florida is arguing that it has reached out in official capacities to the Biden Administration’s DHS and met with refusal to comply with the requests, according to Fox News who first obtained the lawsuit information.
“Because the federal government is refusing to comply with these obligations and frustrating Florida’s ability to maintain the integrity of its elections, Florida files this suit,” the lawsuit says.
Florida says it “has an obligation to maintain accurate and current voter registration records” and also notes the impact of the crisis at the southern border, which brought millions of noncitizens into the U.S.
It argues that it cannot track and maintain immigration information on its own. States can verify status through a DHS program called the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. According to the lawsuit, DHS and Florida have an agreement to allow the state to use SAVE to verify immigration and citizenship status for people on the the voter registration rolls.
The lawsuit claims that Florida’s Department of State identified a number of individuals for whom it had evidence that they were not citizens, but couldn’t run a search via SAVE as it doesn’t have unique identifiers.
The state says it reached out to DHS’ U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requesting the verification of those people, but was denied.
“Thus, Florida has identified a subset of individuals for whom it cannot verify citizenship or immigration status through SAVE and for whom DHS refuses to verify citizenship or immigration status through other means,” the state says. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The state is seeking an order saying the refusal to provide Florida with a response is unlawful, a declaration that they are entitled to a response and an order requiring DHS to respond to the inquiry.
This comes in the middle of a contentious election year unlike anything I have seen in my lifetime. The issue of election integrity is at the heart of the primary issues being hashed out in the campaign for the White House. With only 18 days remaining until Election Day, the timing of this lawsuit could be pivotal in the race for the White House if it is handled expeditiously and not drawn out for political gain.
“Voting is a right granted to American citizens—not illegal immigrants or other noncitizens. The Biden-Harris administration has allowed millions of illegal immigrants into the country, and we must ensure that only citizens are on our voter rolls,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “I am taking legal action against the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Mayorkas to ensure Florida is able to maintain the integrity of our state’s voter rolls.”
“The Florida Constitution is clear that only citizens can vote in our elections. Florida is calling on the federal government to dismantle the barriers blocking the states from obtaining critical information needed to prevent non-citizens from voting in our elections,” said Florida Secretary of State, Cord Byrd. “We are going to prevail in our effort to uphold the law and uphold the Constitution’s guarantee of one citizen, one vote.”
A similar lawsuit was filed by the state of Ohio, requesting access to multiple DHS databases.
With states beginning to stand up to the unconstitutional impairment to the U.S. election system by the Biden-Harris Admin, there remains a chance for mostly fair elections.
It must be noted that the Administration has likewise sued states over their efforts to remove noncitizens from voting rolls. So it is about time states take the sort of action Florida is now engaging in to move against the illegal election interference by the Biden Admin.
This remains a developing story. We will bring you further updates as they become available.
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