Mississippi County Sued in Federal Court for Corrupted Voter Rolls

Statewide Elections Loom November 2015 with Multiple Counties Having Implausible Rolls

(Alexandria, VA) – July 28

The Public Interest Legal Foundation has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Clarke County Election Commission in Mississippi because it has more voters on the rolls than living citizens. The lawsuit alleges a violation of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) in that the Clarke County Election Commission failed to reasonably maintain voter rolls.

The plaintiff in the case is the American Civil Rights Union. The plaintiff originally sent the defendant a notice letter in June 2014 describing potential violations of federal election law, asking to review election records, and seeking a cure. The defendant never replied to the letter.

The complaint states: “Voter rolls maintained by the Defendant for Clarke County contain more voters registered to vote than citizens eligible to vote. In March 2015 . . . Clarke County, Mississippi had 12,646 registered voters, despite having a voting age population of only 12,549 according to the United States Census. More than 100 percent of living citizens old enough to vote were registered to vote in Clarke County in 2015.”

Corrupted voter rolls in Clarke County are not simply a recent phenomenon. “During the 2010 federal general election, over 101 percent of living citizens eligible to vote in Clarke County were registered to vote,” the complaint alleges.

Mississippi has statewide elections in November 2015. “Corrupted voter rolls provide the perfect environment for voter fraud,” said J. Christian Adams, President and General Counsel of the Public Interest Legal Foundation. “Mississippians should not have to wonder this November if their legitimate vote was cancelled by a vote cast by an illegitimate vote in Clarke County.”

This enforcement action is the first case in the Public Interest Legal Foundation’s efforts to clean corrupted voter rolls around the nation ahead of the 2016 Presidential election. The Obama Justice Department has shut down enforcement of Section 8 of the NVRA and thus allowed voters rolls around the nation to remain corrupted and filled with ineligible registrations. The plaintiff, through lawyers in this case, have brought similar lawsuits and obtained consent decrees against other Mississippi counties for corrupted voter rolls.

The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), (formerly Act Right Legal Foundation), is a 501(c)(3) public interest law firm dedicated to election integrity. PILF exists to assist states and others to aid the cause of election integrity and fight against lawlessness in American elections. Drawing on numerous experts in the field, PILF seeks to protect the right to vote and preserve the Constitutional framework of American elections. Contact: media@publicinterestlegal.org.

For a PDF of this press release click here.

For a PDF of the complaint click here.