Sarasota County's quiet voter purge

Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent

Published: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 2:44 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 2:44 p.m.





Both the state and local purges were halted amid concerns about the accuracy of the data. But last week, the federal government announced it would share information on non-citizens with Florida, and additional voter purges could occur before the general election in November.

Few people were aware of the purge that Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent began in February. Though it started separately, the effort became intertwined in the politically sensitive state effort to remove non-citizens from the rolls.

As Sarasota County and other counties across the state move to potentially purge more voters, the handful of people aware of Dent's jury form voter purge are raising questions about the way it was handled. Why was more information not released to the public? Why did it take so long for the voters to be added back to the rolls after their citizenship was confirmed?

Dent's push to use jury recusal forms came after a Fort Myers television station claimed it had examined such forms and found nearly 100 non-citizens on the rolls. Elections officials in Lee and Collier counties began checking their rolls against the forms.

Members of the Sarasota Patriots, a conservative group led by a member of the local Republican Party executive committee, heard about the TV report and asked Dent if she could apply the same method.

The supervisor's staff began digging through more than 70 boxes containing recusal forms that had been accumulated over several years.

'Not a citizen'

One of the 12 on Dent's ultimate list was registered Democrat Joseph Daughtry, who public records from Dent's office show has voted in nearly every primary and general election since at least 1988.

When called for jury duty in January, Daughtry checked boxes on a recusal form indicating that he was elderly and "not a citizen." He also noted that because of his health, it would be an undue hardship for him to serve.

Daughtry, who could not be reached for comment, was removed from the rolls in March after the 30-day period elapsed for him to bring in proof of citizenship, records show.

After that, his birth certificate was provided, but he was not added back to the rolls until June 1, after he had gotten another letter saying evidence regarding his citizenship was "inconclusive."

A total of five voters on Dent's list were not purged because they had either shown birth certificates or motor vehicle records confirmed their legal status.

But seven were removed in March, including the man who sent in confirmation that he was not a citizen.

The rest never responded to letters from Dent's office.

Their information was turned over to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office. After deputies spoke with them it was determined that they had accidentally checked the non-citizen box on the recusal form.

The Sheriff's Office declined to file charges.

"I am not a citizen of the United States" is one of various options on the form for people to decline jury duty. But the "not" portion of that statement is not bolded or highlighted, which may have led some who read quickly over the form to check the box in error.

Several people on Dent's list who checked the box also indicated that they were elderly or had medical conditions.

Two different purges

Following the jury form purges in Lee and Collier, state officials unveiled a list of potential non-citizen voters that they had started compiling based on Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles data.

In April, the state sent county elections supervisors 2,700 names of non-citizen voters to remove from their rolls.

Fourteen of them were in Sarasota County but none were among the 12 that Dent identified in her efforts with jury forms.

Supervisors across Florida began to balk after realizing the lists the state had given them were rife with errors.

Vicki Davis, president of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections, says the jury recusal forms still might prove a better method than the motor vehicle database.

"This would be, at least, documentation from the individual," Davis said. By comparison, the motor vehicle database contains a lot of outdated citizenship information.

But officials are learning that it is not easy to prove if a voter is a citizen, whether they use motor vehicle records or the jury recusal forms.

In fact, Dent attributed the two-month gap from when the voters in her purge were removed from the rolls and when they were added back to a change in her thinking about who should have the burden of proof.

After an election supervisors association conference in late May, where Dent and her colleagues debated how much evidence should be required before removing a voter, Dent said she began to believe the burden of proof should lie with her office.

"This was a relatively new thing for all of us," said Dent, now locked in a heated re-election battle with County Commissioner Jon Thaxton. After many discussions and talking about the state's list, "we weren't real comfortable without having concrete evidence."

Dent said she is now looking to develop a better method. In the meantime, she plans to only remove someone when there is definitive evidence that they are not citizens.

She said she also recently started working more closely with the clerk of courts and tax collector to identify potential non-citizen voters: The clerk's office now sends her a monthly update on who has declined jury duty on the basis of citizenship and the tax collector has more detailed information that can help confirm whether someone is a citizen.

Concern over methods

But some of those who witnessed Dent's effort this year say more information should have been released to the public about how citizenship was being confirmed.

Beth Colvin, the Sarasota Patriots' leader, says she got periodic updates from Dent's office but was not told how Dent ultimately determined that people were citizens.

"Until they tell me it was thorough, I can only imagine whether it was or wasn't," Colvin said. "I cannot believe that through the years there hasn't been anybody actually identified as being registered to vote who was not a citizen, and that nothing has ever come of it."

Dent disputes Colvin's version of events, citing the emails she sent to her and others seeking updates on the effort.

Colvin is just one of many in Florida and other states skeptical of supervisors' efforts — both in ensuring citizenship but also in being careful about who is purged.

"People have fought and died for that right in this country," said Pat Rounds, a member of Citizens for Responsible Government, who learned of the jury form effort through Facebook chatter.

"It is not a minor thing," Rounds said. "Before you take that right away from somebody, you better make sure they're disqualified."

Dent said that it is unlikely any more purges will come this year as a result of the release of the federal immigration database, though it is not impossible. State officials still need to work through the data, and Dent said she needs enough time to do her own research on whatever new list of potential non-citizens she is handed.


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