Dēmos examines ballot access issues, voter suppression in AZ, GA, OH, CA, IN, WI, MI, NC, TX, LA
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Dēmos, a movement-oriented think tank committed to racial justice, today released Protecting Voter Registration: An Assessment of Voter Purge Policies in Ten States, a report assessing voter removal practices across ten different states and the risks they pose for kicking eligible voters off the registration rolls. The report analyzes voter purge practices, the safeguards in place to protect voters from disenfranchisement, and accessibility and transparency of voter data across Arizona, California, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin.
This analysis makes it clear that we must pass comprehensive, federal voting rights legislation.
“Protecting voting rights and fair elections includes equitable election administration and voter roll maintenance,” said Taifa Smith Butler, President of Dēmos. “We are facing an unprecedented assault on voting rights in this country, and purges that erroneously target eligible voters for removal are part of the problem. The Supreme Court has spent the last decade systematically weakening the protections in the Voting Rights Act. Extremist state legislatures are passing laws that disproportionately target Black and brown voters. Voter suppression efforts are a direct threat to the basic rights of Black and brown people, families and communities, as well as young and rural voters. This analysis makes it clear that we must pass comprehensive, federal voting rights legislation.”
The report examines voter removal practices, including routine list maintenance that removes people who are no longer eligible to vote, as well as more harmful laws targeting voters for removal for not voting, permitting third-party challenges to voter registration, and granting broad removal authority for election officials without built-in safeguards.
Dēmos selected the ten states in the report because of their existing voter removal laws and protections, the accessibility of their registration data, and because a majority of these states’ legislatures have recently considered or passed laws impacting how voters are removed from the registration rolls.
To view the full report assessing voter purge policies and recommendations for how state lawmakers and election officials can ensure registration rolls are accurate, click here.
To learn more about how Dēmos is building economic, political and civic power to realize a just, inclusive, multiracial economy and democracy, click here.
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Dēmos is a movement-oriented think tank committed to racial justice. Through research, litigation, strategic communications and deep partnerships with grassroots organizations across the country, we build power with and for Black and brown communities. Building economic, political and civic power is required to realize our vision of a just, inclusive, multiracial economy and democracy