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Friday, March 29, 2024

Justice Dept to Join Lawsuit Against NYC Board  of Elections Over Purged Bklyn Voters 

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The Justice Department has filed a motion to join a pending lawsuit against the New York City Board of Elections. The Brooklyn office of the Board had erroneously discarded registrations of more than 117,000 during the recent election because the voters had not voted in previous elections. The removal of potential voters has lead to an 8% decline in voter registration and is in direct violation of the federal voter registration law.

WNYC initially reported that court officials noted that if not addressed, the irresponsible handling of voters registration rolls can lead to similar botched electoral procedures in the future. “The deficient oversight of borough voters removal programs…was a cause of the unlawful removals of voters from the voter’s rolls…unless enjoined by this Court, the deficient oversight of borough voter removal programs… is likely to result in the same or similar unlawful removals of voters” 

The recent move by the Justice Department adds teeth to the original petition, which was filed in November by Common Cause New York, an organization dedicated to investigating election fraud and other forms of corruption. The Brooklyn office of the New York City Board of Elections allegedly canceled voter registrations in several districts on Primary Day in April. According to the plaintiffs, the Board failed to follow preliminary protocols before removing voter’s names. They also accuse the Board of failure to properly review the policies of the Brooklyn office. 

In the aftermath of the Petition’s filing, city comptroller, Scott M. Stringer, and attorney general Eric T. Schneiderman have both opened inquiries into the procedures of the board; Mayor de Blasio had also called for spending $20 million on voting protocols and Diane Haslett-Rudiano, the board’s chief clerk in Brooklyn, was suspended after the primary. 

Ms. Haslett-Rudiano ordered the removal of all voters that have not voted since 2008 from the database.The Brooklyn staff members did not determine whether the voters had died or moved away, which is required by federal law. Moreover, the Petition states that 4,100 of the voters whose registrations had been removed had in fact voted after 2008. 

Moreover, the Brooklyn database did not coincide with the State’s database. When the voters whose registrations had been liquidated checked the status of their registrations, they had been listed as registered, even though the Brooklyn staff had removed them from the list. 

Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, made the following statement with regard to the Justice Department’s recent involvement in the scandal: 

“ Federal law demands careful maintenance of the voter rolls to ensure lists are kept accurate, without unjustifiably and unlawfully purging eligible citizens. The department appreciated the continued cooperation of the New York City Board of Elections, including proactive steps taken to start remedying violations that have occurred but more is necessary to reach full compliance with the law.”

The 117,000 names that have been removed from the rolls are set to be recalled by the Board of Elections. 

By: Cameron Huertas

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