Voting Rights Advocates Intervene to Stop Illegitimate Purge of Eligible Pennsylvania Voters

(Harrisburg, Pa.) – Purging lawful voters from Pennsylvania’s voter rolls is illegal and undemocratic, voting rights groups said today while filing a motion to intervene to protect voting rights in the state.

Common Cause Pennsylvania and the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania filed the motion in a federal lawsuit, Judicial Watch v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In that case, a pro-voter purge group is seeking to force three Pennsylvania counties to remove thousands of voters from the rolls before the upcoming election.

“Common Cause is dedicated to ensuring that every eligible voter can cast a ballot,” said Suzanne Almeida, Interim Executive Director for Common Cause Pennsylvania. “While reasonable list maintenance procedures are a necessary part of election administration, we staunchly oppose any effort that would result in the removal of eligible voters from the voting rolls.”

“The data proposed by this challenge is unverified and deliberately targets senior voters and Black voters,” said Terrie Griffin, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania. “This is just another attempt by an outside group to parachute in to disenfranchise Pennsylvania voters. In a presidential election year, during a global pandemic, our election officials should be focused on securing and safely administering our elections. Instead, they are forced to deal with the distraction of an illegitimate voter roll challenge.”

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP filed the motion on behalf of Common Cause Pennsylvania and the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania.

Judicial Watch, an organization known for disenfranchising voters, filed a lawsuit against Bucks, Chester and Delaware County officials and Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar. The group seeks to remove untold thousands of voters from the rolls in the counties. The organization bases its claims on unverified, self-generated data. The case is similar to lawsuits recently filed by other anti-democratic organizations seeking to purge voters in Allegheny County, as well as heavily-populated counties in Michigan and North Carolina, ahead of the 2020 election.

Despite the lawsuit’s claims, the available evidence indicates that Bucks, Chester and Delaware Counties are engaging in regular voter list maintenance practices.  Moreover, this unnecessary lawsuit will only serve to add further strain on counties’ and election officials’ resources during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

By filing a motion to intervene, Common Cause Pennsylvania and the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania seek to protect eligible Pennsylvania voters who are at risk of being wrongfully purged from the rolls by this calculated lawsuit. Common Cause and the League of Women Voters perform valuable voter assistance and education while also serving as a bridge between county election officials and their voters to ensure that elections are administered in a secure and accessible manner for all.

“We have serious concerns that eligible voters in these three counties could be illegally purged from voter registration rolls, which is why we are stepping in,” said Adriel Cepeda Derieux, an attorney with the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “We want to ensure eligible voters and election integrity are protected.”

“Counties routinely clean up their voter registration lists of inactive voters and people who are deceased,” said Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “But when outside actors try to strong arm the counties into excessive purging, that can lead to the disenfranchisement of eligible voters. Our clients have every reason to defend the interests of voters, and we hope the court recognizes that.”

“The Constitutional right to vote is one of our most sacred rights as citizens and represents the most direct means by which most of us participate in our democratic institutions.  Any attempt to unfairly disenfranchise eligible voters is an attack on these institutions and must be strongly resisted,” said William T. Russell, Jr., a partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.

“The Pennsylvania counties who have been sued in this case are already doing their part to clean their voter rolls,” said John Powers, Counsel with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “This lawsuit seeks to force these counties to engage in extreme and unnecessary purging in advance of the 2020 election.  If this litigation succeeds, eligible Pennsylvania voters will be purged from the rolls and disenfranchised.”

A copy of the brief in support of Common Cause Pennsylvania’s and the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania’s motion to intervene can be found here.

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About the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law: The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination.  Now in its 56th year, the Lawyers’ Committee is continuing its quest to “Move America Toward Justice.”  The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice for all, particularly in the areas of voting rights, criminal justice, fair housing and community development, economic justice, educational opportunities, and hate crimes.  For more information, please visit lawyerscommittee.org.About the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania: The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization dedicated to defending and expanding individual rights and personal freedoms throughout the entire commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Through advocacy, public education, and litigation, our staff and volunteers work to preserve and enhance liberties grounded in the United States and Pennsylvania constitutions and civil rights laws. To learn more, please visit www.aclupa.org.

About the American Civil Liberties Union: The ACLU’s mission remains realizing the promise of the Bill of Rights for all and expanding the reach of its guarantees. Beyond one person, party, or side – the ACLU dares to create a more perfect union. To learn more, visit www.aclu.org.

About Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP (www.simpsonthacher.com) is one of the world’s leading international law firms. The Firm was established in 1884 and has more than 1,000 lawyers. Headquartered in New York with offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, São Paulo, Tokyo and Washington, D.C., the Firm provides coordinated legal advice and transactional capability to clients around the globe.

About Common Cause Pennsylvania: Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process. To learn more, please visit https://www.commoncause.org/pennsylvania/.

About the League of Women Voters: The League of Women Voters envisions a democracy where every person has the desire, the right, the knowledge and the confidence to participate. We believe in the power of women to create a more perfect democracy. Learn more at https://www.lwv.org.