Voter purge: Florida reaches deal federal government to use immigration database to screen voters

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida election officials say they have signed a formal agreement with federal authorities to let the state use an immigration database to screen voters.

   Florida officials for months have been seeking approval to use the database to see if some registered voters were non-U.S. citizens and ineligible to vote.

   The Department of Homeland Security agreed in principle to let the state use the database earlier this summer but it did not sign a binding agreement until this week.

   The department's database tracks anyone who has entered the country legally.

   State officials will use the database to screen the names of some 2,600 registered voters the state initially suspected were ineligible.

   Many county election officials stopped using that list after finding it contained more than 500 people who were citizens.