voter registration Archives - Page 17 of 19 - Voting Integrity Institute

Judge Rules against Kansas Proof of Citizenship to Vote

WICHITA - A federal judge said Tuesday that Kansas can't require people to show proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote for federal elections at motor vehicle offices. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson ruled that the state's proof-of-citizenship requirements likely violate a provision in the National Voter Registration Act that requires only "minimal information" to determine a voter's eligibility. She ordered Kansas to register thousands of voters whose paperwork is on hold because they did not comply with the requirement. But she put her preliminary injunction on hold until May 31 to give the state a chance to appeal. The state immediately said it would appeal. Unless a higher court halts Robinson's order before the end of the month, it would take effect then, clearing the way for those residents to cast a ballot in the upcoming federal elections.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:38:01+00:00May 18th, 2016|In the Courts, News, Proof of Citizenship, Voter ID|

New Yorkers File Suit over Alleged Election Fraud

More than 200 outraged New York voters have joined a lawsuit claiming the party affiliation on their voter registration changed without their consent. The voters say they are unfairly being shut out of Tuesday's primary. The suit, filed Monday in Brooklyn, calls for New York to be an open primary state, allowing anyone to vote in primaries regardless of party affiliation. "For many of our complainants, to have the electoral process deprived of them, it's devastating," Shyla Nelson, an activist and spokeswoman for Election Justice U.S.A., told the Daily News. New York is one of 11 states that has a closed primary system and, due to an obscure election law, voters must have been registered by November of the previous year for the party whose primary they plan to vote in -- this is the earliest change-of-party deadline in the country.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:22:29+00:00April 19th, 2016|In the Courts, News, Vote Fraud|

Heloise Gets It about How to Prevent Vote Fraud

The household advice column "Hints from Heloise" weighed in this week on the importance of accurate voter registration rolls: Dear Heloise: In 2012, my father died, and in 2014, I was still getting voter mailings in his name. I went to the voter-registration office in our town and had his name removed. I also checked when we went to vote to make sure his name was removed. I did the same last year for my mother. By doing this, no one can use their names to vote. - Nancy J. in North Carolina Dear Nancy: I am sorry about the loss of both of your parents in such a short time. Hopefully others reading this hint will keep this in mind. It's amazing how many dead people vote, in every state. The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 requires that every state "make reasonable efforts to remove persons who have died," but there is no set standard for doing this. Each state is different, so take the time to make sure a deceased person's name is no longer on the roll. Notify your voter-registration office yourself, and follow up when you go to vote. - Hugs, Heloise

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:38:01+00:00April 5th, 2016|ACRU Commentary, Vote Fraud, Voter ID|

Congressman Seeks to Add Florida to National Voter Database

U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch is calling on Florida election officials to participate in a national database aimed at preventing voter fraud -- amid reports that more than two dozen people possibly voted twice in the 2014 general election. The West Boca Democrat penned a letter to Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner on Tuesday, urging him to sign up for the Electronic Registration Information Center, a database used by 15 states and the District of Columbia. Deutch says the system known as ERIC would improve the accuracy of voter rolls by allowing Florida to compare its list of voters with other states' at a minimal cost of $50,000. "We have a record when it comes to our elections that is obviously not one we are terribly proud of," he said. "I can't understand why we wouldn't join an effort with a nationwide database that can combat problems of people being registered to vote in two states." Deutch's calls come after election supervisors in Broward and Palm Beach counties launched probes in January into reports of as many as 32 people voting twice in the 2014 general election -- once in Florida and once in their home state up North. It's a felony to vote in the same federal election twice.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:35:34+00:00February 17th, 2016|News, Vote Fraud, Voter ID|

ACRU Wins Consent Decree in Third Mississippi County to Clean Up Voter Rolls

ALEXANDRIA, VA (Nov. 30, 2015) - The (ACRU) has settled its federal lawsuit against the Clarke County, Mississippi Election Commission, marking the third time a Mississippi county has agreed by consent decree to clean up its voter rolls. In July, ACRU, represented by the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), sued the county because it has more voters on the rolls than living citizens. The lawsuit, filed by PILF and Mississippi attorney Henry Ross, alleged a violation of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which requires maintenance of accurate voter rolls. In 2013, the ACRU secured Section 8 agreements with Walthall and Jefferson Davis counties, and two weeks ago, on Nov. 12, sued a fourth Mississippi county, Noxubee, over its corrupted voter rolls. The agreement between the parties was approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Hattiesburg Division, on Nov. 25. The agreement requires the Commission to begin identifying and removing voters who are no longer eligible to vote in Clarke County as early as April 2016. The ACRU originally notified the Commission by letter in June 2014 that its voter rolls were potentially in violation of federal election law. According to U.S. Census data and other public records, Clarke County, Mississippi had 12,646 registered voters, despite having a voting-age population of only 12,549. The Commission never responded to the notice letter. The agreement also requires the Commission to periodically notify the ACRU in writing about the Commission's efforts to clean up its voter rolls. "Corrupted voter rolls have been a problem in Clarke County for years," said ACRU Policy Board member J. Christian Adams, who is president and general counsel of the Public Interest Legal Foundation. "This settlement is a positive step towards a cure and should give Mississippians confidence that their legitimate votes will not be cancelled out by an ineligible voter." The Obama Justice Department has shut down enforcement of Section 8 of the NVRA and thus allowed voters rolls around the nation to remain corrupted and filled with ineligible registrations. The ACRU is the only private party under NVRA to successfully sue to clean up county voter rolls.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:39:00+00:00November 30th, 2015|ACRU Litigation News, Early Voting, In the Courts, News, Press Releases, Voter ID, Voter Roll Maintenance|

ACRU Files Suit against Third Mississippi County

ALEXANDRIA, VA --- The on July 27 filed a complaint in federal court against another Mississippi county that has corrupted and inflated voter registrations. Voter rolls maintained by Clarke County actually contain more people registered to vote than citizens eligible to vote. The complaint argues that Clarke County's election commission is violating Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Hattiesburg Division. "Clarke County has had longstanding problems maintaining plausible numbers of registrants on the rolls," the complaint filed against the Clarke County Election Commission says. "During the 2010 federal general election, over 101 percent of living citizens eligible to vote in Clarke County were registered to vote." ACRU's review of databases revealed that as of 2015, more than 100 percent of Clarke's voting-eligible citizens were registered. This strongly indicates the county has failed to purge the names of people who had died, moved away or been convicted of disenfranchising felonies.

ACRU Staff2015-07-31T11:42:30+00:00July 31st, 2015|In the Courts, News, Press Releases|

The Voter Suppression Myth Takes Another Hit

Federal lawsuits against North Carolina claim that recent changes to the state's election laws will "suppress" minority votes. For example, in N.C. State Conf. of NAACP v. McCrory, plaintiffs assert that the new laws "impose a disproportionate burden on the ability of African Americans to vote" and will "raise costs for voters and deter participation." They highlight testimony by a former director of the State Board of Elections who asserted that the laws will "ultimately reduc[e] turnout in comparison to comparable elections." Turnout data for the 2014 election, posted Dec. 10 on the state's Board of Elections website, tell a different story. Black turnout and registration for the November 2014 election increased by every relevant measure compared with November 2010, the last non-presidential general election. Last July, North Carolina adopted electoral reforms that eliminated same-day registration, reduced the number of days of early voting to 10 from 17, and required ballots to be cast in a voter's home precinct. It also instituted a voter-ID requirement that will take full effect in 2016. Two sets of plaintiffs, led by the NAACP and the League of Women Voters, sued in federal court on Aug. 12, 2013. They were followed a few weeks later by the Justice Department. Attorney General Eric Holder asserted that the state's new laws would restrict "access and ease of voter participation" and "would shrink, rather than expand, access to the franchise." All three suits alleged that the reforms will inflict "burdens" on North Carolina voters--and in particular, on minority voters. These allegations were backed by reams of expert reports submitted by social scientists predicting that these burdens would depress voter registration and turnout. One expert in the Justice Department lawsuit claimed that more than 200,000 black voters, along with 700,000 white voters, would be "burdened" in an off-year election. Another expert concluded that particular provisions "will lower turnout overall" and "will have a disparate impact on African-American voters." Those predictions were not borne out. The 2014 elections were the first test of the impact of North Carolina's new laws, including a "soft rollout" of its voter-ID requirement--under which poll workers asked voters if they had ID and if not, to acknowledge the new requirement in writing. Board of Elections data showed that the percentage of age-eligible, non-Hispanic black residents who turned out to vote in North Carolina rose to 41.1% in November 2014 from 38.5% in November 2010.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:36:58+00:00December 29th, 2014|Early Voting, News, Same-Day Registration, Voter ID|

Obamacare’s California Agency Sent Republican Couple a Voter Registration Marked ‘Democrat’

LA MESA, Calif. - A local couple called 10News concerned after they received an envelope from the state's Obamacare website, Covered California. Inside was a letter discussing voter registration and a registration card pre-marked with an "x" in the box next to Democratic Party. The couple - who did not want their identity revealed - received the letter and voter registration card from their health insurance provider Covered California, the state-run agency that implements President Obama's Affordable Care Act. They have lived in La Mesa for years and they have always been registered to vote Republican. Now, they are perplexed as to how the voter registration card pre-marked Democrat ended up in their mailbox.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:37:00+00:00March 31st, 2014|News, Voter ID|

California to Send Voter Registration Forms to Obamacare Enrollees

In order to pacify left-leaning voter registration groups, California is now opting to send out voter registration forms to each and every Obamacare enrollee. Several California interest groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and left-wing think tank Demos, threatened legal action, the Washington Post reports. Though a link to voter registration was clearly placed on Covered California's homepage, opponents complained that there was no option for those using a paper application or people who bypass the homepage. "Ensuring that all eligible Americans are registered to vote is key to ensuring a robust democracy," Lisa Danetz, legal director Demos, said in a statement. "If other states follow, millions more Americans will have the opportunity to join the voting rolls."

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:37:00+00:00March 25th, 2014|Early Voting, News, Voter ID|

ACRU Sues Texas County over Corrupt Voter Rolls

SANDERSON, TX (Jan. 28, 2014) – The has filed suit [...]

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:39:00+00:00January 28th, 2014|ACRU Litigation News, In the Courts, Press Releases, Voter ID, Voter Roll Maintenance|

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