just the vote_nvra
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September 11, 2012
VIA FIRST CLASS MAIL
and E-MAIL
Paula Dozier
White County Clerk
301 East Main, PO Box 339
Carmi, IL 62821
Dear Ms. Dozier,
We are writing to you because we are aware that a letter from the organization True the
Vote claims your County is in violation of the National Voter Registration Act (“NVRA”) and
threatens legal action if certain steps are not taken in response. We represent a coalition of
national and state based voting rights organizations, which collectively bring extensive
experience supporting local and statewide election officials in the fair and legal administration of
elections. We write to advise you of serious inaccuracies and omissions in True the Vote’s letter
and to clarify that pursuant to the NVRA, no systematic voter removal program may be
undertaken prior to November 6, including one triggered by a mass mailing.
List maintenance programs that make reasonable efforts to remove the names of
ineligible voters from the official list of voters help to maintain accurate and reliable voter
registration lists and are ordinarily a legitimate election administration activity. The NVRA
directs states to make “a reasonable effort to remove the names of ineligible voters” from official
voter lists. This includes regular ongoing list maintenance activities to remove the names of
individual voters who have died or moved out of the jurisdiction. It also includes making list
maintenance records available to public inspection, with limited exceptions. However, contrary
to the assertions of the True the Vote letter, the NVRA does not require the number of registered
voters in a County to be below a specific threshold; nor does the number of registered voters in
your County establish a violation of the NVRA.
Importantly, the NVRA expressly prohibits conducting systematic voter removal
programs within 90 days of a primary or general election for federal office. The NVRA
explicitly directs that election officials “shall complete, not later than 90 days prior to the date of
a primary or general election for Federal office, any program the purpose of which is to
systematically remove the names of ineligible voters from the official list of eligible voters.” 42
U.S.C.A. § 1973gg-6(c)(2)(A). Specifically, as the United States Department of Justice states in
its NVRA guidance, “list maintenance verification activities such as general mailings and door to
door canvasses” are among the programs that cannot occur within 90 days of a federal election.21
This 90 day “quiet period” helps ensure that eligible voters are not deterred from voting or
erroneously removed from the rolls when there is insufficient time to undertake a careful
removal of voters from the rolls and to correct errors before Election Day. The letter from True
the Vote misleadingly fails to explain, or even acknowledge, this explicit NVRA restriction on
the timing of systematic voter removal programs.
August 8th
marked the 90th
day before the upcoming November 6th
general federal
election. Thus, at this time, it is not possible to conduct a systematic program intended to
remove voters from your County’s rolls without violating the NVRA. Accordingly, any such
program may not be conducted until after the November election. Thus, contrary to the
implications of the True the Vote letter, no mass mailing or other program to remove voters is
required by the NVRA at this time – in fact, such a program would violate the NVRA.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can provide any additional information or
resources regarding appropriate list maintenance procedures pursuant to the NVRA. Specifically,
we are available to answer any questions or concerns you might have about the allegations made
in True the Vote’s letter or about the requirements of the NVRA. We would also be happy to
work with you as your County evaluates any other election administration obligations under state
and federal law. Finally, we respectfully request that you confirm via email to
mliebling@clccrul.org that White County will not initiate any systematic list maintenance
programs between now and November 6.
Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to hearing from you.
Respectfully Submitted,
Colleen K. Connell, Executive Director
American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois
180 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 2300
Chicago, IL 60601
Diana Kasdan, Counsel
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
161 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10013
21
See The United States Department of Justice, The National Voter Registration Act of 1993,
Questions and Answers, available at http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/nvra/nvra_faq.php.
Marissa Liebling, Staff Attorney
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
100 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 600
Chicago, IL 60602
Rey Lopez-Calderon, Executive Director
Common Cause Illinois
325 W. Huron Street, #706
Chicago, IL 60654
Ben Hovland, Senior Counsel
Fair Elections Legal Network
1825 K Street, NW, Suite 450
Washington, DC 20006
Sonia K. Gill, Associate Counsel
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
1401 New York Avenue NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005
Jan Dorner, President
League of Women Voters of Illinois
332 South Michigan Avenue, Suite 525
Chicago, IL 60604
Claudia Henriquez, Legislative Staff Attorney
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
11 E. Adams St., Suite 700
Chicago, IL 60603
Catherine Flanagan, Director of Election Administration
Project Vote
1350 I St., N.W., Suite 1250
Washington, DC 20005
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