Today, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division sued the states of Oregon and Maine, and their respective Secretaries of State, for failing to provide information regarding voter list maintenance procedures and electronic copies of statewide voter registration lists.
“States simply cannot pick and choose which federal laws they will comply with, including our voting laws, which ensure that all American citizens have equal access to the ballot in federal elections,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “American citizens have a right to feel confident in the integrity of our electoral process, and the refusal of certain states to protect their citizens against vote dilution will result in legal consequences.”
The lawsuit against Oregon alleges that Oregon and its Secretary of State Tobias Read violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (CRA) by refusing to produce the current unredacted electronic copy of the state’s voter registration list, to provide information on the state’s voter list maintenance program, and to disclose registration information for any ineligible voters.
The lawsuit against Maine alleges that Maine and its Secretary of State Shenna Bellows violated the NVRA, HAVA, and CRA by refusing to provide data regarding the removal of ineligible individuals and to produce an unredacted, computerized state voter registration list.
Yet both states gave identical information requested by the Justice Department to a private organization.