Mich. officials deny alleged voter purging

The Michigan Secretary of State Thursday denied allegations of illegal voter purging, but if the American Civil Liberties Union has its way, the issue will go to court.

The New York Times published an article Thursday reporting that Michigan and eight other states illegally purged voters from the rolls. The newspaper determined the illegal purging appeared to be the result of mistakes.

According to the report, Michigan has removed about 33,000 voters from its registration system since Aug. 1. It is illegal to remove voters within the 90 days prior to an election unless they have died, notified officials they have moved from the state or been declared unfit to vote. Only 11,500 of the purged files meet those requirements.

“The numbers that are referenced in the Times are not true or accurate portrayals of what we see in our voter file,” Michigan Secretary of State spokeswoman Kelly Chesney said.

Last month the ACLU, the Advancement Project and the law firm of Pepper Hamilton LLP also filed a lawsuit claiming the Secretary of State’s voter purging practices may remove voters who intend to vote in Michigan.

The issue, ACLU communications director Rana Elmir said, deals with voters who are temporary residents of other states and acquire driver’s licenses in other states, but still vote in Michigan — for example, college students attending school out of state or retired “snowbirds” spending winters south.

“The Secretary of State is ignoring their intent to keep their primary voter registration in Michigan and immediately purging them from the list,” Elmir said.

She said voters with out-of-state driver’s licenses can’t be purged unless they fail to vote in two consecutive national elections.

While the ACLU has not been able to confirm the number of purged voters cited by the Times, Elmir said she is not surprised.

“They are indicative of a more widespread issue that’s plaguing the Michigan election process,” she said.

East Lansing City Clerk Nicole Evans said worried voters should call her office or check the Secretary of State’s Web site to verify registration.

“The bottom line is, I wouldn’t be waiting until Nov. 4 to find out if I’m registered,” she said.

Published on Thursday, October 9, 2008