Florida Felon List: Hispanics? What Hispanics?

Tom Lyons of the Herald Tribune has an amazing column on what he terms a "glitch" in the Florida Felon list that was released by court order last week to assist counties in purging their voter rolls.

Lyons says that the percentage of African Americans on the list is about 50%, which is in keeping with the approximately 50% of the general population of Florida that is black. At the same time, while Hispanics comprise roughly 11% of the population, on the list they account for roughly, well, zero percent. There is a handful of names on the 46,000 person list, Lyons tells us, but nothing approaching statistical representation.

Would the GOP play politics with a potentially important swing constituency that is increasingly leaning towards conservatism as their community in America matures? Oh, I'm sure they wouldn't. I mean, when Lyons contacted Gov. Jeb Bush's office to discuss the discrepancy, he was given a resounding "No comment." Problem solved!