Fifteen Voters Removed In Rick Scott’s Purge Reinstated By Florida Elections Supervisors

Last week, the Clay and Pinellas County Supervisors of Elections’ offices told ThinkProgress that they had already removed names from the voter rolls on the basis of not responding within 30 days to letters demanding proof of citizenship. But after the Justice Department demanded Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) end his extensive purge of registered voters from the rolls because it was in violation of federal law, all 67 county supervisors announced they would suspend the illegal removals.

But what of the 14 voters in Pinellas County and the one voter in Clay County who had already been purged?

According to spokeswomen for both offices, the voters in question have all been reinstated. The data processing manager for Clay County noted that the one woman removed from the rolls had already been restored. It turned out she provided documentation to the office over the weekend proving her citizenship — yet another piece of evidence that the Scott administration’s list of “sure-fire non-citizens” was riddled with a gigantic number of errors.

While the decision by the county supervisors to halt the purge and reinstate the improperly removed voters represents a victory for the right to vote, the Scott administration has still not announced whether it will defy the Department of Justice and continue to purge voter rolls.