Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE), in support of nonprofit Electoral Process Education Corporation (“EPEC”), has notified Virginia election officials they are violating federal law by withholding information critical to efforts to verify the accuracy of the Commonwealth’s voter rolls.
Virginia is violating the National Voter Registration Act (“NVRA”) and a 2012 court order by withholding full birthdates from datasets the law requires ELECT to provide to nonprofit and political organizations. The state abruptly announced its decision to withhold this information just weeks before the 2024 General Election, just when groups like EPEC need it most to verify the accuracy and currency of Virginia’s voter registration list.
EPEC has used birthdates to identify noncitizens on the registration list, to identify duplicate records, and to identify persons registered in multiple states. Virginia’s unlawful decision severely impairs EPEC’s ability to successfully continue this important work.
RITE President and CEO Derek Lyons issued the following statement:
“Virginia must reverse course and comply with federal law, which requires it to produce full birthdates of every person registered to vote in the Commonwealth to groups like EPEC that request it. In fact, in 2012, a court ordered Virginia to do just that so organizations can better evaluate the accuracy of the state’s voter registration records. Virginia’s sudden policy change is part of a troubling trend of states trying to impair the ability of organizations to assess the currency and accuracy of their voter rolls. Courts have consistently blocked these unlawful attacks on transparency, and we are confident they will do so again here if Virginia does not quickly course correct.”
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