Republicans are mounting an aggressive pre-election bid to cleanse dead and illegal voters from state lists in time for the fall election. “It is an utterly intolerable situation,” said Republican elections lawyer Christian Adams.
It’s a serious problem in many states. Take Michigan as an example. Secretary of State Ruth Johnson told a conference of national election officials last week that one problem she faces is that non-citizens eligible for driver’s licenses often also sign up to vote even though they are barred from participating in elections.
“We have thousands of non-residents now registered to vote,” she said. “I don’t know who are citizens and who are not.”
Some state officials say they don’t have the resources to investigate every name to build clean voting lists.
But that argument just brings shrugs from advocates. “It doesn’t matter how much it costs. It’s the law,” countered Adams, with the Election Law Center.
Later this week, he and Judicial Watch plan to announce a nationwide bid to sue the counties with the dirtiest lists. “I am convinced non-citizens are voting in elections,” said Adams.
It’s not a partisan issue. Will Crossley of the Democratic National Committee said “we agree actually and would join…in calling for cleaner lists.”
