FLORIDA: Fewer letters mailed

In Letters to the Press on Friday, June 8, Stephen D. Bruno from Hayden stated, “In Florida the Republican controlled Legislature and Governor just got through sending out 180,000 letters to citizens that notify them in official sounding language that it has been discovered that they are not eligible to vote.” Mr. Bruno goes on to state that recipients of the letter have 30 days to respond or they will be removed from the voting rolls.

I happened to be in Florida two weeks ago, and I read an article about that very subject in the Tampa Times newspaper. What Mr. Bruno did not tell you was that those letters were sent to convicted felons and non-citizens. In Florida, convicted felons lose their civil rights, which includes the right to vote. And here in Coeur d’Alene we’ve heard a lot lately about non-citizens’ voting rights.

I don’t know where Mr. Bruno got the 180,000 number, but in my research I found that 6,934 names were purged from the voter rolls out of nearly 11 million voters statewide. Strangely, those who were purged were three times more likely to be Democrats than Republicans. According to state data that was analyzed by The Times/Herald, “Democrats account for 51 percent of felons removed from the rolls so far this year and Republicans account for 17 percent. Voters of no party affiliation made up 23 percent and minor-party voters made up the rest.”

The Times newspaper article went on to say, “Blacks were almost as likely as whites to be removed (44 percent of those removed were white; 43 percent were blacks), while blacks make up 16 percent of the state’s population.”

So Mr. Bruno, as you drill your hole in the bottom of the boat, hopefully there will be a Republican nearby to put a cork in it.

By the way, in Florida there is a way for convicted felons to regain their civil rights, but it is not easy so most don’t do it.

HERB SEVERTSON

Coeur d’Alene