UPDATE: Secretary of State Ken Detzner says that Florida, which expects imminent access to the SAVE database, will resume the purge and complete it prior to the November election. The Department of Justice is moving forward with its legal challenge.

UPDATE: New developments continue to shed light on the purge and its far-reaching impact. An article in the Atlantic details the possibility that it could lead to a 2000-style fiasco. A woman who is most certainly alivewas removed from the rolls twice because the state thinks she is dead. The Guardian has profiled several other voters who are battling to preserve their rights. Thankfully, there is some good news, as despite being granted access to the SAVE database, it now looks like county election supervisors won’t be removing more voters from the rolls before the August 14 primary. Officials are being encouraged to proceed cautiously since the state may not be able to settle its ongoing disagreement with the federal government over the purge. In other news, Congresswoman Corrine Brown has filed a lawsuit to try to stop early voting cutbacks.

The federal government has granted Governor Rick Scott and Secretary of State Ken Detzner access to the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, further fanning the flame under their voter suppression fire. The move followed last month's ruling that the purge did not violate the National Voter Registration Act.

The chorus against the Florida voter purge added sixteen new voices to the mix last week after House Judiciary Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI14) led a letter to Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX21) calling for:

A lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice after Florida Governor Rick Scott and Secretary of State Ken Detzner refused to stop the voter purge suffered a blow this week when Judge Robert Hinkle of the US District Court of Northern Florida refused to issue an injunction against the state.

UPDATE: What we expected has come to pass: Secretary of State Ken Detzner has officially responded to the Department of Justice, indicating that the voter purge will continue, throwing his own accusations back at DOJ, and giving them a deadline of June 11 to respond. A legal battle is indeed looming.

News out of Florida this morning suggests that, despite a warning from the Department of Justice, Governor Rick Scott and Secretary of State Ken Detzner will proceed, and possibly expand, their sweeping effort to purge voters from the rolls.

The Miami Herald: