A new Brennan Center for Justice report finds that efforts to strip American voters from state voter rolls escalated significantly after a 2013 Supreme Court decision striking down a key portion of the 1965 Voting Rights Act–and that jurisdictions previously under federal "preclearance" requirements due to a history of identified voter discrimination were the most aggressive in purging their voter rolls.
Almost 4 million more names were purged from the rolls between 2014 and 2016 than between 2006 and 2008.3 This growth in the number of removed voters represented an increase of 33 percent—far outstripping growth in both total registered voters (18 percent) and total population (6 percent).
Most disturbingly, our research suggests great cause for concern that the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder (which ended federal “preclearance,” a Voting Rights Act provision that was enacted to apply extra scrutiny to jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination) has had a profound and negative impact:
For the two election cycles between 2012 and 2016, jurisdictions no longer subject to federal preclearance had purge rates significantly higher than jurisdictions that did not have it in 2013. The Brennan Center calculates that 2 million fewer voters would have been purged over those four years if jurisdictions previously subject to federal preclearance had purged at the same rate as those jurisdictions not subject to that provision in 2013.
In Texas, for example, one of the states previously subject to federal preclearance, approximately 363,000 more voters were erased from the rolls in the first election cycle after Shelby County than in the comparable midterm election cycle immediately preceding it. And Georgia purged twice as many voters—1.5 million—between the 2012 and 2016 elections as it did between 2008 and 2012.
Efforts to "purge" voter rolls are typically undertaken by states with the intention of removing voters who have moved, died, or otherwise become ineligible to vote. More aggressive efforts, however, have been marked with persistent errors targeting eligible voters who may share (partial) names with other voters, are wrongly identified as having felony convictions, or other bungling. "When done incorrectly," reports Brennan, "purges disenfranchise legitimate voters (often when it is too close to an election to rectify the mistake), causing confusion and delay at the polls."
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BLAST FROM THE PAST
On this date at Daily Kos in 2008—AK-AL: Palin scandal shakes up House race:
Sarah Palin is the governor of Alaska, and a hugely popular one, with approval ratings hovering in the 90 percent range. She was even discussed as a potential VP pick for McCain.
Or, that used to be the case, as her administration is rocked by revelations that she and her family used the governor's office to carry out a vendetta against a policeman who was a former brother in-law, up to firing the public safety commissioner because he wouldn't fire the trooper. The top wingnut radio host in the state, a huge fan, has turned on the governor big-time, declaring her a one-term governor. The Republican-dominated state legislature is talking investigations. For a state party rocked by scandal, who had seen Palin as a savior -- clean and new, this abuse of power scandal has to be crushing.
Palin doesn't face the voters for another two years, but this scandal has more immediate aftershocks.
We all want Rep. Don Young in the general, as his years of corruption have caught up to him. Polls are showing that Alaskans want change, and Democrats are poised to pick up the seat. Threatening those plans are a competitive Republican primary, as the GOP desperately tries to oust Young and replace him with a less tarnished name.
Lucky for us, two Republicans entered the fray, splitting the anti-Young vote. But one of those two was a top contender—Lt. Governor Sean Parnell. Can you see where this is going?
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