By Victoria Rivera
When was the last time you’ve checked your voter eligibility? Though it’s easy to assume you’re safe once you’re on the voter roll, anyone can be removed without warning. In recent years perfectly capable voters have been victims of ‘voter purges.’
In Florida, voter purges are done once per year by April at the latest, removing “inactive” voters from voter rolls, which in theory would refine the voter lists. They remove people who have left the state, have passed away, or otherwise haven’t participated in elections– implying an inability to participate in state politics. Those removed from the lists were people who weren’t going to be voting to begin with, making it a simple cleaning.
However, just this year, almost 1 million Florida voters were wiped from the system, with 90.75% being Democrats or third-party voters, according to Florida Division of Elections. The drop is commonly attributed to Senate Bill 7050, which passed March 30, 2023.
Though designed to further secure voting, making voter fraud more difficult, it has instead greatly limited community-based voters by marking them inactive. Should they not vote in two elections, they’ll be booted off the voter roll entirely.
The change in status isn’t directly disclosed to individuals affected as a part of this bill either. An otherwise active voter can have no idea their ability to vote is on the line until it’s already taken, and they’re left to scramble to beat the voting deadline.
Further threats to voters have been compounded by “election denier” groups: people who believe Donald Trump lost the election through unfair means. These right-wing groups advocate for further tightening voting laws and finding “new means” to verify voters. Part of these efforts is EagleAI: a program currently being pushed by this group that would combat “voter fraud.”
EagleAI would analyze preexisting databases and addresses to determine who’s a real voter, and who’s trying to cheat the system. While its creator, Doctor John W. Richards Jr., claimed to NBC News that it was nonpartisan, the project is almost entirely funded by Donors Trust. Donors Trust isn’t legally required to disclose its donors or where they get their money, earning them the title of “the dark money ATM of the right” by investigative journalist Andy Kroll.
The lack of transparency has raised plenty of skepticism. Not only are EagleAI’s funding and intentions masked, but it lacks any kind of public information, not having so much as a website.
Despite this, Florida wants to use EagleAI, which may further root out young voters.
Anyjah Pierre, a Barry junior and social work major, has been a voter for some time and checked her voter registration last year. She believes there is merit to both purging and not purging.
“I definitely think it makes sense in a sense, because if you are inactive you shouldn’t get to choose when you want to vote. I also think it’s unfair because it goes against our rights to vote.”
While voter purges can happen to anyone, being deemed inactive or taken off the voter roll doesn’t make someone incapable of ever voting again. To make sure you’re ready for the federal election, remember to:
• Check your voter status directly, allowing you to make sure you’re registered. This can be done by going to registration.elections.myflorida.com
• In the case of needing to revise old information, to minimize the risk of being taken off the registry, one can access and change their information through registertovoteflorida.gov
• After being deemed inactive, there is a two-election window before being removed. Remaining active in voting, especially when not tied only to the presidential election, dramatically decreases the chances of being unfairly purged.
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