Democrat-run Illinois has failed to clean its voter rolls, a violation of federal law, alleges a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
Brought by Judicial Watch on behalf of Illinois voter Carol J. Davis and several state-based organizations, the lawsuit contends that the Illinois State Board of Elections and its executive director, Bernadette Matthews, have broken federal law by failing to maintain accurate voter registration lists and “produce election-related records.”
More specifically, plaintiffs claim the board and Matthews are violating provisions of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which requires states to “conduct a general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters” who have died or changed residence. Individuals can only be removed from the rolls under this law if the voter confirms his or her desired removal “in writing” or fails to respond to a state notice sent to his or her registered address.
“Defendants’ failure to comply with their NVRA voter list maintenance obligations burdens the federal and state constitutional rights to vote of all [plaintiffs] by undermining their confidence in the integrity of the electoral process, discouraging their participation in the democratic process, and instilling in them the fear that their legitimate votes will be nullified or diluted,” the lawsuit reads.
Federal law requires the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to report “its findings relating to state voter registration practices” to Congress in June of every odd-numbered year, the lawsuit notes. Among the information states must
