Voter Purging
Earlier this month, the League of Women Voters of Kansas and other voting rights advocates fought to protect the nearly 35,000 voters at risk of being purged from Kansas’ voter rolls by testifying against the proposed changes.
2 months into the 2015 State Legislative sessions, we have seen a groundswell of assaults on voters in many states. We have been working to fight these threats and advance voting opportunities.
In a big win for voters, a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that Florida’s plan to purge voters before the 2012 elections was prohibited by the National Voter Registration Act.
“The combative tone of the session left Peg Rosenfield, elections specialist of the Ohio League of Women Voters, ‘disturbed and frankly a little frightened.’ ‘This is a terrible indictment of the entire system... The goal – voter integrity, accurate registration records and fair elections – is one we all share. ... But I really question this approach.’”
“Voter advocacy groups say stringent state laws approved in 2011 kept them from signing up as many people for next month's primary election as they should have, although even with the new restrictions there are more registered voters in Northeast Florida than there were last year.”
“The League has doubts about the accuracy and reliability of the federal data match that the state is planning to undertake, and we call on Florida's leaders to ensure that eligible voters are not removed erroneously from the rolls.”
“With four lawsuits and more than 180,000 names of potentially ineligible voters, the situation in the Sunshine State is getting messier by the day. ... A letter to the newspaper from the director of the state chapter of the League of Women Voters and a lawyer from the Brennan Center for Justice (both groups that submitted friend-of-court briefs supporting the DOJ) argues for continuing vigilance.”
“Elections should not be decided by politicians who manipulate voting laws for partisan gain. Improving our elections need not come at the expense of our shared value that all citizens should have the opportunity to participate in our democracy.”
“Five separate organizations and two individual Florida voters have filed suit in U.S. District Court, claiming that the state's controversial voter purge program is discriminatory. The suit, filed yesterday, is the first on behalf of individuals who were on a list of potential non-citizens flagged for removal from the voter rolls.”
“Government and politics teacher Dawn Quarles' voice goes tight with frustration when she thinks back to how trying to register her students to vote thrust her into the center of Florida's high profile and deeply partisan voting rights controversy. ... ‘I never felt like the voting process was on my side... That's not the way it's supposed to be,’ said Quarles, a registered Republican who was slapped with a $1,000 fine...”