New ACLU Report Shows Millions of Eligible Voters May Be Turned Away on Election Day
Nationwide Survey of 15 State's Purge Laws
Millions of eligible voters may be prevented from
casting their ballots on November 2nd due to non-existent or flawed
procedures used by state election officials to purge felons from voter
rolls, according to a new report released today by the American Civil
Liberties Union and Demos, as part of the Right to Vote Campaign.
"Because few states have standardized procedures or policies for
purging felons from voter lists, there is little doubt that millions of
voters may be disfranchised on Election Day," said Laleh Ispahani, lead
author of the report. The report shows that states, even those with
identical disfranchisement policies, conduct purges very unevenly
because of flawed or nonexistent legislative guidance. As a result,
legal voters, including voters who share similar names with felons, are
mistakenly taken off of voter rolls. The report examined the purge
structures and procedures of 15 states. The ACLU researched how state
elections officials "match" people with felony convictions against
individuals listed on their voter registration list before purging them
from the rolls, and whether states notify the individuals deemed
"matched" that they will be or have been purged. [more ]Among the key findings of the report:
No Purge Criteria:
None of the states surveyed requires its officials to use any specific
or minimum criteria to ensure that an individual with a felony
conviction is the same individual being purged from the voter rolls.
A Limited Ability to Challenge Purges:
Two-thirds of the states surveyed do not require elections officials to
notify voters purged from the voter rolls, denying these voters an
opportunity to contest erroneous purges.
]Among the key findings of the report:
