At a press conference held yesterday morning, the top election official in Broward county clearly said that any non-citizen who casts a vote in the state is committing a felony. Dr. Brenda Snipes met with the media to discuss her efforts to determine whether 259 non-citizens in the county are improperly registered to vote. As Media Trackers Florida previously reported, Dr. Snipes’ letter asked suspected non-citizens to provide proof of citizenship within thirty days. The letter noted that failure to provide proof of citizenship “may” result in the recipients being dropped from voting rolls.

Florida’s attempts to remove dead and ineligible voters from the rolls has drawn the ire of liberal activists and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Late Thursday, in a letter to Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner, DOJ gave the state until June 6, 2012 to show why the U.S. government should not intervene and prevent the state from reviewing its voter rolls. According to the letter, DOJ believes Florida may be violating Section 5 of the federal Voting Rights Act, which requires regions covered by the law to seek DOJ’s permission prior to engaging in certain voting-related activites.

“The practice [of checking voter records with the Florida Department of Safety and Motor Vehicles database] appears to be different from the benchmark practice currently in force or effect in the five covered counties in Florida subject to the requirements of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. 42 U.S.C. 1973c,” the letter stated.

The letter also noted that the National Voters Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 requires the State to complete any alteration of the voting rolls at least 90 days before a federal election. Because Florida’s federal primaries are scheduled for August 14, 2012, the state’s ongoing review “appears to violate the NVRA,” the letter said.