Integrity is an important ideal in a democracy. Politicians should have integrity, and laws should be upheld and applied by the same standard. It’s no wonder, then, that Gov. Rick Scott is rolling out Project Integrity.
Unfortunately, politicians in the United States often engage in a dirty habit of doublespeak.
Political buzzwords should make every constituent do a double take. Unfortunately — but not surprisingly — Scott’s new plan has nothing to do with integrity.
Instead, Scott aims to remove noncitizens from the voting roll, disproportionately affecting Hispanic voters. The policy uses racial profiling for Scott’s electoral advantage, singling out a demographic that typically votes blue.
Let’s talk about how much integrity our governor has.
It’s not the first time he’s tried this tactic to benefit the GOP in the ballot box. According to the Miami Herald, the previous voter purge began with a list of 182,000 names of suspected noncitizens. As time went on, that list dwindled to 2,600 names. Just before Election Day hit, only 198 names were left.
Although Hispanic people made up 13 percent of the 11.3 million active registered voters, according to the Herald, they made up 58 percent of the list.
The list was so shoddily put together that one Cuban-American woman named Manoly Castro-Williamson was threatened that she may lose her voting rights even though she hadn’t missed a vote in years.
In Hillsborough County, the purge was abandoned after several people proved their citizenship.
Florida Sen. Bill Nelson also pleaded with Scott to heed the voice of reason and stop an unnecessary campaign. Citing reports from the Associated Press, Nelson blasted the governor and compared his campaign with a similar purge in 2000 that most likely won the election for George W. Bush.
The purge didn’t stop until the Department of Justice stepped in.
It violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a law protecting minorities, and the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, governing voter purges.
The latter law prohibited removal of “the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters” within 90 days of a federal primary or general election.
The Voting Rights Act outlawed the practice of redistricting areas historically most affected and was motivated by racism to do so without approval from the Department of Justice. And conveniently for Scott, it was overturned by the Supreme Court earlier this year.
In 2014, Scott is up for re-election, and he knows he needs all the help he can get.
While he spent almost five times more than Alex Sink in the 2010 election, he won by a little more than 1 percent.
This time around, he wants to solidify his win. And because it’s more than 90 days away from the election and the Voting Rights Act is gone, he knows a voter purge can go on with little legal opposition. And don’t forget that a purge like this will affect minorities — and thus Democrats — at a higher rate.
Scott’s last attempt at a voter purge was staunchly opposed by election officials, a senator and citizens. It marginalized Florida’s largest immigrant population, and it was stopped because it violated not one but two federal laws.
Project Integrity shows Florida that its governor has none. Scott is spitting in the face of Florida voters by using legal technicalities for his own advantage. Don’t let him.
Justin Jones is a UF journalism senior. His column runs on Thursdays. A version of this column ran on page 6 on 10/17/2013 under the headline "Gov. Scott’s ‘Project Integrity’ is a sham"
