Florida Sues Federal Government, Seeking Data on Noncitizen Voters

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody speaks, in a file photograph. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Florida authorities on Oct. 16 sued the U.S. government, alleging U.S. officials are illegally refusing to cooperate with Florida’s effort to remove noncitizens from its voter rolls.

State law requires state authorities to maintain accurate voter registration records. Federal law requires the federal government to respond to inquiries from federal, state, and local government agencies that are “seeking to verify or ascertain the citizenship or immigration status of any individual within the jurisdiction of the agency.”

But when the Florida Department of State asked U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for data on individuals whom Florida authorities identified as potentially being noncitizens who are registered to vote, USCIS’s director wrote back and said the agency could not offer any information that is not contained within the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program.

Florida authorities have access to the program, but it is insufficient to check all possible noncitizens, according to the suit, because the program requires officials to have biographic information and an immigration identification number to check a person’s citizenship status.

“Without further information from DHS, Florida is unable to fulfill its statutory duties to ensure the integrity of its elections and maintain accurate voter registration records,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and other state lawyers said in the complaint. “Florida’s inability to carry out its statutory obligations inflicts sovereign injury upon the state.”

The complaint was filed in federal court in Pensacola.

Florida authorities are asking the court to declare USCIS’s refusal to provide information on the individuals illegal, compel U.S. officials to provide the information, and award Florida costs and attorneys’ fees.

The suit is against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—the parent agency of USCIS—and the DHS secretary.

“Voting is a right granted to American citizens—not illegal immigrants or other noncitizens,” Moody said in a statement. “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. 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 suit did not specify how many potential noncitizens Florida authorities identified. Florida authorities said in the filing that they will not publicly disclose information about the individuals but “should it be necessary to the resolution of this case, Florida is willing to file redacted information in an amended complaint or to provide the information to Defendants and the Court under a protective order.”

Requests for comment sent to DHS and the U.S. Department of Justice, whose lawyers defend the government against lawsuits in federal court, were not returned.