Florida suing to check registered voter citizenship status

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida Gov. Rick Scott says the state is suing the federal government because it will not allow the state to check the citizenship status of registered voters.

Scott announced the lawsuit Monday during a television appearance.

Florida last year began looking for non-U.S. citizens on the voter rolls. A comparison of driver's license records with voter registration records turned up as many as 182,000 registered voters who may not be U.S. citizens.

State officials have been seeking access to a federal immigration database to verify the matches. But that request has been turned down by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

So far the state has given a smaller list of more than 2,600 names to local election supervisors. But that list has come under fire for errors.