September 11, 2012

VIA FIRST CLASS MAIL

and E-MAIL

Paula Dozier

White County Clerk

301 East Main, PO Box 339

Carmi, IL 62821

Dear Ms. Dozier,

We are writing to you because we are aware that a letter from the organization True the

Vote claims your County is in violation of the National Voter Registration Act (“NVRA”) and

threatens legal action if certain steps are not taken in response. We represent a coalition of

national and state based voting rights organizations, which collectively bring extensive

experience supporting local and statewide election officials in the fair and legal administration of

elections. We write to advise you of serious inaccuracies and omissions in True the Vote’s letter

and to clarify that pursuant to the NVRA, no systematic voter removal program may be

undertaken prior to November 6, including one triggered by a mass mailing.

List maintenance programs that make reasonable efforts to remove the names of

ineligible voters from the official list of voters help to maintain accurate and reliable voter

registration lists and are ordinarily a legitimate election administration activity. The NVRA

directs states to make “a reasonable effort to remove the names of ineligible voters” from official

voter lists. This includes regular ongoing list maintenance activities to remove the names of

individual voters who have died or moved out of the jurisdiction. It also includes making list

maintenance records available to public inspection, with limited exceptions. However, contrary

to the assertions of the True the Vote letter, the NVRA does not require the number of registered

voters in a County to be below a specific threshold; nor does the number of registered voters in

your County establish a violation of the NVRA.

Importantly, the NVRA expressly prohibits conducting systematic voter removal

programs within 90 days of a primary or general election for federal office. The NVRA

explicitly directs that election officials “shall complete, not later than 90 days prior to the date of

a primary or general election for Federal office, any program the purpose of which is to

systematically remove the names of ineligible voters from the official list of eligible voters.” 42

U.S.C.A. § 1973gg-6(c)(2)(A). Specifically, as the United States Department of Justice states in

its NVRA guidance, “list maintenance verification activities such as general mailings and door to

door canvasses” are among the programs that cannot occur within 90 days of a federal election.21

This 90 day “quiet period” helps ensure that eligible voters are not deterred from voting or

erroneously removed from the rolls when there is insufficient time to undertake a careful

removal of voters from the rolls and to correct errors before Election Day. The letter from True

the Vote misleadingly fails to explain, or even acknowledge, this explicit NVRA restriction on

the timing of systematic voter removal programs.

August 8th

marked the 90th

day before the upcoming November 6th

general federal

election. Thus, at this time, it is not possible to conduct a systematic program intended to

remove voters from your County’s rolls without violating the NVRA. Accordingly, any such

program may not be conducted until after the November election. Thus, contrary to the

implications of the True the Vote letter, no mass mailing or other program to remove voters is

required by the NVRA at this time – in fact, such a program would violate the NVRA.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can provide any additional information or

resources regarding appropriate list maintenance procedures pursuant to the NVRA. Specifically,

we are available to answer any questions or concerns you might have about the allegations made

in True the Vote’s letter or about the requirements of the NVRA. We would also be happy to

work with you as your County evaluates any other election administration obligations under state

and federal law. Finally, we respectfully request that you confirm via email to

mliebling@clccrul.org that White County will not initiate any systematic list maintenance

programs between now and November 6.

Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully Submitted,

Colleen K. Connell, Executive Director

American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois

180 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 2300

Chicago, IL 60601

Diana Kasdan, Counsel

Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law

161 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10013

21

See The United States Department of Justice, The National Voter Registration Act of 1993,

Questions and Answers, available at http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/nvra/nvra_faq.php.

Marissa Liebling, Staff Attorney

Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

100 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 600

Chicago, IL 60602

Rey Lopez-Calderon, Executive Director

Common Cause Illinois

325 W. Huron Street, #706

Chicago, IL 60654

Ben Hovland, Senior Counsel

Fair Elections Legal Network

1825 K Street, NW, Suite 450

Washington, DC 20006

Sonia K. Gill, Associate Counsel

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

1401 New York Avenue NW, Suite 400

Washington, DC 20005

Jan Dorner, President

League of Women Voters of Illinois

332 South Michigan Avenue, Suite 525

Chicago, IL 60604

Claudia Henriquez, Legislative Staff Attorney

Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund

11 E. Adams St., Suite 700

Chicago, IL 60603

Catherine Flanagan, Director of Election Administration

Project Vote

1350 I St., N.W., Suite 1250

Washington, DC 20005