Voter Purge: A Racist Republican Effort Or Smart Fraud Prevention?

Reuters is reporting that civil rights groups filed a legal challenge on Friday to Florida's controversial effort to purge its voter lists prior to the November presidential election.

The purge requires Florida voters who have been red-flagged by the state to re-verify their citizenship status or lose their ability to vote.

A disproportionate number of those identified on the red-flag list of 2,700 possible non-citizens are either Hispanic or black, the agency reported. The Miami Herald is reporting that Florida's current list of potential non-citizen voters includes many people who are lawful citizens.

Purge supporters claim the effort is aimed at clearing voter rolls of non-citizens; critics call it part of long-running Republican effort to deter minorities and the poor, who tend to vote Democratic, from casting ballots, Reuters reported. (Click here to read the full story.)

Florida is expected to be a key swing state in the November 6 presidential election.

The U.S. Department of Justice and Florida's Department of Elections are locked in a dispute over the voter list purge, according to the Reuters report.

Friday’s lawsuit, filed on behalf of two naturalized U.S. citizens who were mistakenly red-flagged, argues the purge violates legislation to protect minorities, Reuters reported.

"When I received the letter saying that they had information that I may not be a citizen, I was concerned that someone was taking away my citizenship," Murat Limage testified as part of the lawsuit. "I'm an American which means I can vote and that's all I want to do."