VIRGINIA ELECTION OFFICIALS SUED FOR UNLAWFULLY DENYING ACCESS TO VOTER FILES
February 17, 2010
February 17, 2010
VIRGINIA ELECTION OFFICIALS SUED FOR UNLAWFULLY DENYING ACCESS TO VOTER FILES
Today, leading voter protection groups Advancement Project and Project Vote, along with pro bono cooperating attorneys from the law firm of Ropes & Gray LLP, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Norfolk against Elisa Long, general registrar of Norfolk and Nancy Rodrigues, secretary of the State Board of Elections, for denying access to certain voter registration records. After receiving reports from their local community partners regarding large numbers of rejected voter registration applications, particularly from students at the historically African-American Norfolk State University, Advancement Project and Project Vote sought to review Norfolk's rejected registration applications to ascertain if qualified persons were unlawfully kept off the voting rolls.
The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA ) has a public disclosure provision mandating states to adhere to certain requirements. In particular, the provision requires that records relating to the implementation of voter registration programs and activities be made available to the public for inspection and photocopying upon request. Virginia law, by contrast, prohibits many voter registration records - including rejected voter registration applications - from being disclosed. Advancement Project and Project Vote notified the Norfolk registrar and the State Board of Elections last summer about the conflict between Virginia and federal law and urged them to follow federal requirements, because when there is a contradiction between state and federal statues, the prevailing rule of law is the federal statue. Last fall, however, election officials indicated that in their estimation no conflict existed, and they believed that the Norfolk officials were acting properly in accordance with state law.
Click here to read the complaint
Filed under Voter Protection, Virginia
