[EL] On the other hand - voter file purges

[larrylevine at earthlink.net]

Ever notice the move to remove voters from the rolls or restrict the ability
of certain people to vote always comes from Republicans as with this case in
Wisconsin?
(https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/elections-2020/judge-orders-234000-purged-fr
om-wisconsin-voter-rolls/ar-AAK6RkZ?ocid=spartandhp)  On the other hand, I
served on the Los Angeles City Commission on Election Reform in 2014. Our
charge was to investigate ways to increase turnout in municipal elections. I
served on the research committee, which interviewed 22 elections officials
and academics across the country to see what had been tried and the results
of things like two-day voting, weekend voting, same-day registration, all
mail ballots, etc. My research turned up the fact that at that time 22.4% of
the people registered to vote in the City of Los Angeles had not voted in
any election in 20 years or more. Political Data Inc., a private vendor that
manages voter files for almost ever major consultant in the state, showed 8%
or the registered voters were verifiably dead. I called these non-voters
"deadwood" on the file. The representative of one of the "reform"
organizations lit into me. She said, "You can't call them deadwood. People
have a right to not vote." Remember, these people has missed every election,
including the two Obama elections, for 20 years or more. We asked the
Registrar of Voters why there was no process to remove those voters from the
file as continuing to carry them was costing the county money. The answer
was that the Voting Rights Act restricted such action. There are any number
of ways to verify that those non-voters are no longer properly registered
and should be purged. 

Larry

 

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