American Civil Rights Union Chairman and CEO Susan Carleson sent a letter to Rep. Gregg Harper, chairman of the Committee on House Administration, thanking him for holding a hearing that highlighted the crucial issue of keeping voter lists accurate.

Honorable Gregg Harper, Mississippi

Committee on House Administration

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington DC 20515

Dear Chairman Harper,

I am writing to thank you for holding a hearing on state voter registration list maintenance and highlighting the importance of maintaining accurate voter registration rolls. We encourage you to continue the national discussion on the need to improve a faulty, inefficient process that has resulted in inflated official voter rolls for over 20 years.

Americans’ most fundamental civil right — that of voting and self-governance — relies on citizen confidence in our public institutions, especially the integrity of our elections. Accurate voter registration rolls and honest ballot counting are essential to maintaining our constitutional republic and separation of powers One of the purposes of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) was to protect election integrity by ensuring that states maintain accurate voter rolls. Unfortunately, over 200 counties across America have more people registered to vote than residents eligible to vote, and states fail to provide adequate oversight of the problem. Corrupted voter rolls furnish a wealth of opportunities for absentee and mail-in ballot fraud, voter impersonation and double voting.

In response to this threat, the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) undertook an unprecedented legal strategy to force the cleanup of voter registration rolls. The ACRU began suing to enforce the NVRA once the Holder Department of Justice made it crystal clear that they would refuse to do so. Using Section 8 of the NVRA, the ACRU has won a number of consent deecrees to improve voter rolls in jurisdictions across the country.

The ACRU has also created the Voting Integrity Institute (VII), a dedicated partner for election integrity, which provides education and training on critical voting issues to legislators, secretaries of state and citizens. The Institute closely monitors voting legislation across the country and assists state legislators and other officials who are considering ways to improve the electoral process.

Again, thank you for highlighting this important issue. We stand ready to assist your committee with information and list maintenance best practices for consideration.

Sincerely,

Susan A. Carleson

Chairman and CEO

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