MIAMI, June 22 (UPI) -- The Rev. Jesse Jackson has accused Florida Gov. Jeb Bush of conducting "disenfranchisement schemes" by asking counties to purge felons from voting rolls.
In a visit to south Florida Monday, the Chicago civil rights leader tried to promote opposition to the state's use of felon removal lists, The Miami Herald reported Tuesday.
"This is a typical South (tactic), denying the right to vote based on race and class," Jackson told those at a rally in Miami. "You see classical voter disenfranchisement. These schemes to deny or suppress voters are not new schemes."
He said his Rainbow PUSH organization would conduct voter registration and turnout drives from "tip-to-tip" in Florida.
Bush reacted angrily to Jackson's remarks calling them "outrageous" and saying Jackson was "past his prime."
State election officials last month ordered local election supervisors to remove felons from voter rolls. They distributed a list of 48,000 registered voters they said might be felons.
