Florida filed a major lawsuit against the Biden-Harris administration on Thursday, alleging that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has abdicated its duty. In several key states, including Arizona, Ohio, and Virginia, Republicans aiming to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls are clashing with the Biden-Harris administration, which is effectively overruling their efforts by citing a federal law that prohibits changes to voter rolls less than 90 days before an election. The lawsuit from Florida, first reported by Fox News, indicates that state officials believe DHS is unresponsive to their requests for confirmation on whether a registered voter is a U.S. citizen.
“Because the federal government is refusing to comply with these obligations and frustrating Florida’s ability to maintain the integrity of its elections, Florida files this suit,” the lawsuit says, adding the state “has an obligation to maintain accurate and current voter registration records” in light of millions of noncitizens crossing the border in recent months.
Under current arrangements, states must depend on federal resources to verify individuals’ nationality using a DHS program known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE). In its lawsuit, Florida argues that it has evidence of non-citizenship for several individuals but cannot conduct searches in the SAVE system due to a lack of unique identifiers. Additionally, the state reports that a request for assistance sent to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) was denied. “Thus, Florida has identified a subset of individuals for whom it cannot verify citizenship or immigration status through SAVE and for whom DHS refuses to verify citizenship or immigration status through other means,” says the lawsuit.
In a statement, Republican Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody stated that the Biden-Harris administration has an obligation to assist states in preventing voter fraud in November. “Voting is a right granted to American citizens—not illegal immigrants or other noncitizens. The Biden-Harris administration has allowed millions of illegal immigrants into the country, and we must ensure that only citizens are on our voter rolls,” Moody told Fox. “I am taking legal action against the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Mayorkas to ensure Florida is able to maintain the integrity of our state’s voter rolls.”
“The Florida Constitution is clear that only citizens can vote in our elections. Florida is calling on the federal government to dismantle the barriers blocking the states from obtaining critical information needed to prevent non-citizens from voting in our elections,” added Florida Secretary of State, Cord Byrd. “We are going to prevail in our effort to uphold the law and uphold the Constitution’s guarantee of one citizen, one vote.”
Florida is not alone in its efforts to urge the federal government into action. Ohio, another Republican stronghold, recently filed a lawsuit against the Biden-Harris administration on similar grounds, claiming that DHS is not doing enough to assist state election officials in verifying that only U.S. citizens will be voting in November. Earlier this week, Virginia’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin criticized the federal government for suing to prevent his administration from removing tens of thousands of noncitizens from the voter rolls. And on Thursday, a federal judge appointed by Donald Trump ordered Alabama to end its voter roll purge and reinstate them due to a provision in federal law.
