On June 8, 2012, two naturalized U.S. citizens and a national non-profit dedicated to increasing civic participation among Latinos filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1973c and 28 U.S.C. § 2201 against the State of Florida in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division. Plaintiffs, represented by private counsel, the ACLU of Florida, the ACLU, and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, sought declaratory and injunctive relief claiming that Florida's voter purge procedures violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ("VRA"). Specifically, Plaintiffs claimed that these procedures required Section 5 preclearance from the federal government before they can be legally implemented. Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965,42 U.S.C. §1973c, is a temporary provision that prohibits changes in election practices or procedures in states and political subdivisions with a documented history of discriminatory voting practices until the new procedures have been determined not to have the purpose or effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group. Five of Florida's counties have been determined to fall within this category.

At the time of writing, no response or activity had yet followed the complaint.

Timothy Shoffner - 06/11/2012


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