What About Scrubbing the Rolls?
The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 says that states need to "conduct a general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters by reason of (A) the death of the registrant; or (B) a change in the residence of the registrant."
Problem is that it's very easy for states to weaponize this rule to suppress voters. For example, the Act expressly states that "a State shall not remove the name of a registrant from the official list of eligible voters in elections for Federal office on the ground that the registrant has not voted or appeared to vote (and, if necessary, correct the registrar's record of the registrant's address) in an election during the period beginning on the date of the notice and ending on the day after the date of the second general election for Federal office that occurs after the date of the notice."
Some states are much more aggressive with this process than others. Take Ohio, for example. Ohio's so-called use-it-or-lose-it law says that if a voter does not participate in just one federal election cycle they are sent a written notice. If the voter does not respond to the written notice -- and does not vote within the next four years -- they are removed from the voting rolls altogether. In June 2018, the highest court in the land upheld Ohio's law as constitutional in the U.S. Supreme Court case Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute. Similar fights are happening across the nation.
It is a positive sign that Ohio is working to find fair answers because states MUST significantly improve the accuracy and efficiency of their voter registration systems.
The Pew Center for the States found that "approximately 24 million — one of every eight — voter registrations in the United States are no longer valid or are significantly inaccurate; More than 1.8 million deceased individuals are listed as voters; and approximately 2.75 million people have registrations in more than one state." Read the entire report here. From the report:
In the end, the goal is to conduct appropriate maintenance without disenfranchising people. This can be tricky. One study from a lot of super smart people found that "there are about three million cases in a national voter file in which 2012 vote records share a common first name, last name, and date of birth...we find that (at least one proposed purging strategy) would eliminate about 300 registrations used to cast a seemingly legitimate vote for every one registration used to cast a double vote." Read the entire report here. This is completely unacceptable.
Getting a handle on this is super important because just a few votes can make an extraordinary difference. Just consider the 2000 presidential election. Before the election, the Florida state legislature decided that the state's voter rolls should be purged of dead people and felons. Later it was revealed that the process incorrectly identified thousands of legitimate voters as felons. To refresh your memory, 2000 was the year that Florida determined the entire election, with George W. Bush winning the presidency by just a few hundred votes.
Evidence:
United States. "Title 42 - The Public Health and Welfare Chapter 20 - Elective Franchise Subchapter I-H - National Voter Registration."
Nicholas Casey. "Ohio Was Set to Purge 235,000 Voters. It Was Wrong About 20%." New York Times. 14 Oct 2019
United States. Supreme Court. "Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute." 584 US_(2018). 11 June 2018
"Inaccurate, Costly, and Inefficient." Pew Center on the States. February 2012
Sharad Goel, Marc Meredith, Michael Morse, David Rothschild, and Houshmand Shirani-Mehr. "One Person, One Vote: Estimating the Prevalence of Double
Voting in U.S. Presidential Elections." 24 Oct 2017
That said, take a bow Ohio for eventually trying to do the right thing! Just months after the Supreme Court decision, in a bid for transparency, Ohio publicly released the names of around 235,000 people that were set to be removed from the voting rolls. Thanks to several advocacy groups, Ohio discovered that about 20 percent -- or about 40,000 people -- should not have been on the list and it was corrected.
"The Pew Center on the States is working with states to upgrade voter registration systems to improve the accuracy of records, streamline processes, and save money, while enhancing the rolls’ integrity. This effort builds on initiatives already in place in some jurisdictions. With guidance from a working group of 42 experts, including election officials, academics, and technology specialists from more than 20 states, Pew developed a comprehensive plan that uses methods already in place in the private sector and other areas of government to modernize voter registration. The approach consists of three core elements:"
Comparing registration lists with other data sources to broaden the base of information used to update and verify voter rolls.
Using proven data-matching techniques and security protocols to ensure accuracy and security.
Establishing new ways voters can submit information online and minimize manual data entry, resulting in lower costs and fewer errors.