Honest Elections Project Finds Serious Problems with Voter Registration Records

 

WASHINGTON, DC – Honest Elections Project issued the following statement announcing a new lawsuit against the state of Michigan to force it to clean up its bloated and inaccurate voter rolls. Three months ago, Michigan was placed on notice that it faced litigation under the National Voter Registration Act if it did not account for, and take steps to cure, apparent deficiencies in its voter list maintenance practices within 90 days. That mandatory waiting period has now elapsed, and the state of Michigan has neither acknowledged nor corrected the problem of its inflated voter lists.

The Honest Elections Project gathered the latest publicly available data, comparing U.S. Census Bureau voting-age population estimates with active voter registrations in the state, and identified 16 Michigan counties which appear to have unusually high voter registration rates. One of these counties even appears to have a rate over 100%. These figures are considerably higher than the nationwide registration rate during the 2018 election of 66.9%—a clear red flag that Michigan is allowing outdated registrations to linger on the rolls.

Jason Snead, Executive Director of Honest Elections Project:

Today, a Michigan voter—working with the Honest Elections Project—filed a lawsuit against the state of Michigan to compel it to clean up its inflated voter rolls. Our goal is to deliver to voters the clean, accurate, and reliable voter rolls on which fair elections rely. I sincerely hoped to avoid litigation and work collaboratively with the state in that endeavor; unfortunately, Michigan has chosen a different path. Tolerating inflated and poorly maintained voter rolls is never acceptable, particularly in an election year that will rely on those records to send more mail ballots than ever before.

Tony Daunt, plaintiff:

“I filed this lawsuit because the state of Michigan is in clear violation of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). Jocelyn Benson was given ample notice to clean up the state’s voter rolls, and her failure to do threatens the integrity of every Michigander’s vote. Failure to maintain updated and accurate voter rolls violates federal law and undermines the principle of free and fair elections.”

About Honest Elections Project

The Honest Elections Project is an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan group devoted to supporting the right of every lawful voter to participate in free and honest elections. Through public engagement, advocacy, and public-interest litigation, the Honest Elections Project will defend the fair, reasonable, common sense measures that voters want in place to protect the integrity of the voting process. Above all, the Honest Elections Project supports the voting rights of all Americans—rights that require electoral systems to count every lawful ballot and guard against fraud.

 

Preserving the integrity of our democracy should be an issue above politics. That’s what American voters want, and the Honest Elections Project will make sure they get nothing less.

 

###