(Edited for quick hit to Louisiana portion ... full piece unedited after the jump! This is why registering voters is SO IMPORTANT. It's not just to ensure that folks register for the first time, but also to ensure that the Registrar of Voters has the RIGHT ADDRESS on file. - promoted by ryan)
Cross-posted at Project Vote's Voting Matters Blog
Weekly Voting Rights News Update
By Erin Ferns
In 2000, Florida's disastrous effort to purge former felons from voter rolls resulted in the disenfranchisement of hundreds if not thousands of legitimate voters and clearly influenced the outcome of the presidential contest in that state. History may repeat itself this November with states taking potentially reckless and unlawful measures to clean voter rolls before Election Day.
Project Vote has recently expressed concern to Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne over the state's method of removing voters from rolls, as reported in the Times on Tuesday. Project Vote has learned that Louisiana compares voter lists with other jurisdictions, purging voters solely upon apparent database matches of first name, last name and birth date. With millions of people living in a multi-state region, it is not uncommon to find more than one John Smith born on the same day. Additionally, the possibility of human and typographical error that occur in all large databases creates a greater risk of unjustified disenfranchisement.
"A spokesman for Louisiana's secretary of state said that all voters found to have duplicate registrations were sent at least one warning letter and sometimes two, but that the last such actions were done some 13 months ago," the Times reported.
Here's the choice quote from Dardenne's office:
"We're specifically not doing it right in front of an election," said Dardenne's spokesman.
[Comments from Ryan]Thirteen months ago? Hmmm ... that WAS right before the gubernatorial and legislative elections last fall, Mr. Spokesman. Matter of fact, last June ... a mere 4 months prior to those elections. That sounds like right in front of an election, don't ya think?
Full article after the jump!
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