The Department of Justice today announced that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the State of Connecticut through the Connecticut Secretary of the State to help ensure compliance with federal law regarding maintenance of voter registration lists. Under the agreement, Connecticut will coordinate its statewide voter registration database with Connecticut Department of Public Health records to identify registered voters who have died.

Section 303 of Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) requires states to implement a computerized statewide voter registration list and, along with Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), includes requirements for maintaining this computerized list. As part of these requirements, a state must coordinate its voter registration lists with state agency records on death for purposes of removing the names of deceased voters from its voter rolls.

“The requirements of HAVA and the NVRA help ensure that voter registration records remain accurate and current,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice appreciates Connecticut’s cooperative efforts to ensure its list maintenance procedures comply with the protections and procedures of HAVA and the NVRA.”

The parties’ agreement requires the Connecticut Secretary of the State to create and implement an administrative plan that includes procedures to coordinate the State’s voter registration list with Connecticut Department of Health records on deaths. The agreement also requires the state to report certain data relating to the coordination of these databases and list maintenance activities resulting from that coordination.

More information about the Help America Vote Act, the National Voter Registration Act, and other federal voting laws is available on the Department of Justice website at https://www.justice.gov/crt/voting-section. Complaints about voter registration practices may be reported to the Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.