The Bush Brothers: Keeping Florida Safe from Democratic Process

Disgusting and completely predictable since Jeb Bush ordered the same sweeping purge of voter rolls as he did in 2000, largely affecting those who might not vote for his big brother:

Sam Heyward has voted in almost every election for the past decade or so. But according to the Florida Division of Elections, he's a possible felon who should be struck from the voter rolls.

Heyward appears on an infamous list - a list of 47,687 that is drawing national attention after possibly thousands of eligible voters like him were turned away from the polls in the election that gave George W. Bush the presidency.

Some may have been purged from the voter rolls because of mishandled paperwork or a typing mistake. Some may have been law-abiding citizens who just had the same name as a criminal.

Now that the state has issued another list of people at risk of being taken off the voter rolls, two documents are very important to Heyward: his tattered, blue voter-identification card and a freshly photocopied 1986 clemency form that gave him his right to vote.

The 45-year-old Tallahassee man admits he made a mistake when he was 22, buying furniture that he knew was stolen. His 1981 felony conviction landed him in a work camp for about a year, and then he pulled his life back together.

A Godby High School graduate, Heyward served two years overseas in the Army, then worked locally for Coca-Cola for 13 years. After falling ill and losing a leg, he started first as a volunteer then as a paid employee at Bethel AME Church, where he had been a lifelong member.

His record isn't spotless. He bounced a few checks, let his tags lapse and was caught speeding a couple of times. But the check charges against him were dropped, and none of the offenses rose to a level that would affect his voting rights.

It wasn't easy for Heyward to come forward with his story, but he thinks it's important:

"How many other names of people in the state are on that list, and they don't even know they're on the list or what to do to get their names cleared?"