Eight counties in Southern Illinois are among 24 statewide that are violating the National Voter Registration Act, according to the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, which sent a letter to the Illinois State Board of Elections recently.
The counties, which include Alexander, Franklin, Hardin, Jefferson, Massac, Pulaski, Wabash and White, are accused of having more registered voters than voting-age residents. The letter did not allege voter fraud, but it reminded election board Executive Director Steve Sandvoss that the state is required to purge ineligible voters from the official lists on a regular basis.
The allegations are based on the U.S. Census Bureau's 2011-2015 American Community Survey and public records from 2014. In some cases, voters have died or moved out of the county or state. In addition, voters convicted of a felony and incarcerated are not eligible to vote and should be removed from the official voter registration lists. Ex-felons can re-register to vote after release from prison.
Judicial Watch sent similar letters to 10 other states.
“Dirty election rolls can mean dirty elections,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “These 11 states face possible Judicial Watch lawsuits unless they follow the law and take reasonable steps to clean up their voting rolls of dead, moved and non-citizen voters.”
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