Tampa-area resident and Navy captain Peter Kehring has spent more than 30 years in the U.S. military. But due to Florida GOP Gov. Rick Scott’s recent purge of voter rolls, Kehring will not be able to cast a vote on Election Day, reports Tampa CBS affiliate WTSP. Florida state law requires county election supervisors to regularly update voter rolls to remove felons, deceased individuals, and those who have moved out of the county. Voters who miss two consecutive general elections (2008 and 2010, for example) are sent a letter warning them they will be removed from eligibility unless they contact county officials. Kehring, who has been serving in the military abroad for the last five years, never got his letter.
And he’s not alone: Kehring is among 30 active and reserve service members in the Tampa area who have contacted the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections office, according to WTSP.
Unfortunately, Kehring notified the county officials too late: October 8 was the last day Florida residents can register to vote before the November general election.
Kehring was not pleased. “It’s not just a right that I’ve earned by being an American,” he said. “I’ve (been) trying to protect our country and I really believe it’s a right I’m being denied.”
He wants legislators to amend the law to prevent service members from being wrongly disenfranchised.
Full Article: Active-duty service members disenfranchised by Fla. voter purge – CBS News.