Kast Resignation Prompts New Concerns on Florida Voting Purge, Fall Election

People for the American Way
Press Release
6/7/2004

Tallahassee, Florida – In the wake of the resignation of the Florida state director of Elections, Ed Kast, People For the American Way Foundation (PFAWF) called for renewed efforts to restore voters wrongly purged from the voting rolls in 1999 and 2000, and called on Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood to delay implementation of a new purge list for the 2004 elections.

“When the key election official for the state resigns with just five months to go, it’s a sign of serious disarray and instability,” said Sharon Lettman, PFAWF’s state director for the Election Protection voter education and advocacy program. “Just when county supervisors are looking for clear leadership, here comes another curve ball. We call on the Secretary of State to withdraw her demand for immediate implementation of the new voter purge list, and to make the restoration of voters’ rights the state’s highest priority.”

People For the American Way Foundation has offered to help county supervisors contact people on the 2004 list who are at risk of being wrongfully purged, but the state has instructed supervisors not to release the lists. PFAWF has also protested the Secretary of State’s instruction to county supervisors to develop a quick, “required” implementation plan for the new 2004 list, when thousands of voters wrongfully purged in the infamous 2000 election have not been restored to the rolls.

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