Lawyers' Committee, Advocacy Groups Warn Election Officials Against Unlawfully Removing Voters from Registration Rolls

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2002 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Lawyers' Committee
for Civil Rights Under Law ("Lawyers' Committee") has joined with
the NAACP and the League of Women Voters of the United States to
warn state election officials against using lists of alleged
duplicate voters, which were developed by a partisan political
organization, to conduct a last minute purge of the voter
registration rolls. The joint letter to the Secretaries of State
and Chief Election Officials in each state informed them of likely
inaccuracies in the lists and the possibility that removing any
voters' names now, based on such information, would be in violation
of several provisions of the National Voter Registration Act, also
known as the "motor voter" law.

The letter makes clear that since the data is unreliable and was
not generated by the state election office, it is likely to lead to
legally registered citizens unlawfully being denied the right to
vote. Election officials are urged not to use this information to
take any action that could adversely affect a voters' ability to
cast a ballot in the general election on Nov. 5. In particular,
election officials are reminded that the motor voter law requires
such purges to follow a specific procedure designed to protect
voters' rights, and that they must not be done within 90 days of an
election. The letter also cautions that states must not remove any
voter's name from the voter registration rolls using these lists
without additional and thorough verification that includes notice
to the voters affected.

The non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organizations are
concerned that the methodology used to generate the list of 722,000
names seems insufficient in a number of significant ways and that
the process did not include an assessment of the accuracy of the
data used to compile the lists. The letter specifies the
additional steps that would be needed to develop useful, more
accurate lists. The accuracy of the information contained in these
lists already has been questioned by several states, including
Connecticut, where the Secretary of State characterized the lists
as "highly flawed" based on their week-long investigation of just
54 of the names provided.

"It is very troubling that states may use this inaccurate
information to conduct a last minute purge of eligible voters which
would be a violation of federal law," said Barbara R. Arnwine,
executive director of the Lawyers' Committee. "It is of great
concern not only because of the erroneous information, but even if
these numbers were accurate it is far too late for states to
lawfully purge voters who have moved," she added.

For copies of the letters sent to Chief State Election Officials
please visit our website at http://www.lawyerscommittee.com.

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/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
10/28 13:10

for more information,
Contact: Diane Gross of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil
Rights Under Law, 202-662-8600