What is the Federal Government’s Role in Elections, Specifically Voter Rolls?

 

What is the Federal Government’s Role in Elections, Specifically Voter Rolls?

The federal government has limited but important oversight responsibilities concerning the accuracy of state voter rolls, primarily through the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993. The NVRA is the main federal law governing voter registration and list maintenance. It sets specific requirements for how states must maintain voter rolls. The DOJ can file lawsuits against states that do not follow NVRA requirements, ensuring voter rolls remain accurate and up to date.

Does the federal government directly audit voter rolls? No.

No, the federal government does not directly audit state voter rolls. However, through the DOJ, it can investigate and take legal action if states fail to comply with NVRA requirements. Additionally, organizations and individuals can file lawsuits if they believe states are not properly maintaining their voter rolls.

Are we recommending DOGE and/or the federal government assume control of state voter rolls? No!

We are specifically advocating for DOGE to assist in allowing key federal datasets to be queried to resolve identity, residency, and citizenship in voter registration records - and making all findings public.

Through our IV3 project, we aggregate voter data directly from states. The arduous process of collecting and normalizing state data is done. We are ready to go. We do use other datasets, like the USPS National Change of Address registry and other residency-related refinement tools, and have limited access to a Social Security database that tracks mortality. But the best source for comprehensive data is the federal government. We would only need a limited query for verification purposes, which can be easily achieved.

If DOGE (or the DOJ) attempts to engage directly with the states, they should first reflect on what happened in 2017 to the President’s Advisory Committee on Election Integrity. It didn’t go well. States refused to participate, lawsuits started flying, and after less than a year, the Committee was dissolved.

And remember, states still can’t get the data they need from Dept of Homeland Security to determine a registered voter’s citizenship status. Twenty-one states recently wrote to DHS, requesting expanded access, but their request as written only aims to band-aid a broken process with the archaic S.A.V.E. database. It’s not good enough. As we made clear in The 611 Project, there are specific actions states must take if they’re serious about access. Maybe the states’ letter is just the opening salvo, but … we’re burning daylight.

Time is short. Our voter rolls are inaccurate. And it matters. Take a look at this report True the Vote did after the Georgia general election in 2020.

Are ineligible voters somehow still managing to cast votes? Yes. Is the volume significant enough to swing elections? Absolutely, yes.

Now is the time to bring common sense to bear and clean up the voter rolls.