Josef Sever, Canadian Citizen, Only Person Indicted So Far In Florida Voter Purge

On Thursday, a Canadian man reportedly became the first -- and so far only -- legal casualty of Gov. Rick Scott's controversial months-long purge of Florida voter rolls.

Josef Sever, 52, was indicted in Miami court for voting in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections even though he is a Canadian citizen.

Sever, who lives in Plantation, admitted during an interview with law enforcement in March that he illegally registered to vote in Broward County and had participated in at least two elections. He also said that he provided false documentation of citizenship to purchase firearms from a dealer in Hialeah on four separate occasions.

According to the affidavit, Sever was born in Austria but became a Canadian citizen in 1979. He came to the United States legally, but now faces up to five years in prison and possible deportation, the Sun Sentinel reports.

Scott has ordered that his controversial effort to remove possible non-citizens from voter lists continue, even after the Justice Department warned the state could be violating the 1964 Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act -- and filed suit the stop the purge in June.

The Florida Secretary of State's office first removed 180,000 names from the list, then pared that purge down to 2,600 when many of those targeted turned out to be U.S. citizens or even war veterans.

So far, Sever has been the only case sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as a result of the purge, the Miami Herald reports.