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Felons list audit faults state
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A new state audit criticized how Florida put together a central voter database and a felons list that was sent to election supervisors this year.
BY GARY FINEOUT
[email protected]
TALLAHASSEE - A new audit shows that Florida's attempt to rid the voting rolls of felons this past election season was marred by lax oversight by the Department of State, which failed to follow legal settlements and relied on seriously flawed data when it put together the controversial felons list.
The audit, conducted by Kirby Mole, the inspector general who reports directly to Secretary of State Glenda Hood, says no evidence exists to suggest that state officials deliberately intended to purge black voters more aggressively than Hispanic voters.
In July, Hood killed the felons list -- intended to be used by elections officials to purge voters -- after news reports pointed out problems with the list, among them that it contained too few Hispanics.
Hood did not dispute the audit results Monday. Instead, she put the blame on an overburdened department and said she is taking steps to make sure that this year's problems with the list will not be repeated when Florida unveils a new central voter registration system in 2006.
''There was nothing intentional,'' Hood said. ``Everyone was trying very hard to get things in place and ready. There was just some management controls that were not in place. That will not be the situation in the future.''
