Scott (J. Patt Carter/AP)One of the many criticisms Florida Gov. Rick Scott faces as he defends his state's efforts to purge noncitzens from voter rolls is that legal citizens may be targeted and suppressed.
Well, it turns out Scott knows a thing or two about mistaken voter identify.
The Republican lawmaker revealed to a Tallahassee radio station Thursday that election officials in 2006 removed him from state voter rolls believing he was dead, the Associated Press reports.
"They said I had passed away," Scott reportedly revealed. "I said, 'Here's my driver's license. I'm here, I'm really alive.' So they allowed me to vote provisionally."
Tim Durham, the chief deputy supervisor of elections, told the Associated Press it appeared another Florida resident possessing the same first and last name and date of birth had died. The issue was later corrected.
Scott has spent much of this week publicly defending his state's efforts to prevent illegal immigrants from voting.
State officials announced Monday they were suing the Department of Homeland Security for access to the federal citizenship database to help carry out its voter purge. The Justice Department responded with its own lawsuit, saying the purge effort violates the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act.