The Fight to Ensure Voting Access on the Fort Peck Reservation
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CLC Provides 11 States with Resources on Mass Voter Challenges
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Washington, D.C. — Yesterday, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) submitted letters to local election offices in 11 states on how to navigate mass voter challenges that threaten to undermine Americans’ freedom to vote.
“Our democracy works best when every American can participate in it,” said CLC’s Senior Vice President Paul Smith. “Election officials across the country are busy working to ensure that our elections continue to be safe and secure, and these unfounded challenges are a waste of time and valuable resources. It is our hope that these letters can help equip officials with the tools needed to ensure a free and fair election this November.”
Background:
Laws in nearly every state allow private citizens to challenge their peers’ voter eligibility. These mass challenges are often based on faulty data sets containing inaccurate or outdated information, and if successful can lead to eligible voters’ removal from the rolls, preventing them from participating in an election in which they are legally entitled to vote. These challenges have a long history of targeting recently naturalized U.S. citizens, voters of color, student voters and voters with disabilities. Partisan groups use these laws as tools to undermine Americans’ freedom to vote based on meritless allegations, such as a voter’s change of address.
In 2022, Georgia’s Gwinnett County Board of Elections received challenges to the eligibility of some 37,500 voters—more than 6% of the county’s total registered voters, and more than three times the 2020 margin of victory in Georgia. This year, election officials in counties across the country, including in Georgia, Nevada, and Ohio, have already begun to receive similar challenges.
Mass challenges have been weaponized by partisan actors to threaten their peers’ right to vote without cause in an effort to manipulate election outcomes. Processing frivolous mass challenges also creates significant administrative burdens for election officials, many of whom are already working diligently to carry out other critical tasks in the weeks preceding Election Day.
As the Department of Justice recently explained, federal law protects voters from having their registration cancelled on the basis of frivolous mass challenges made without sufficient evidence. Election workers can do their part to protect the rights of voters in their jurisdictions by providing challenged voters with adequate process before cancelling their registration or rejecting their ballots, including notice of any challenges made and a meaningful opportunity for the voter to refute the alleged grounds for the challenge.
View the letters below:
Read about mass challenges here, listen to the latest episode of our podcast, read our latest blog, or reach out to [email protected].
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Campaign Legal Conversations: Your Election Questions Answered
The 2024 election is underway, and Campaign Legal Center is fighting back against recent unfair voter purges; ensuring voters’ right to know who is spending to influence their vote; and guiding states through the election certification process.
CLC — like many of you — is also monitoring news reports about political violence, false narratives, and political power plays that could harm our democracy. We are ready to respond to any threats with solutions.
CLC Files Challenge to New Mexico’s Error-Ridden and Burdensome Registration Process for Eligible Voters with Felony Convictions
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Washington, DC – Yesterday, Campaign Legal Center and Daniel Yohalem filed a lawsuit on behalf of Millions for Prisoners New Mexico and individual New Mexicans who were wrongly denied voter registration to challenge the discriminatory voter registration requirements that threaten the freedom to vote for New Mexicans.
Passed in 2023, the New Mexico Voting Rights Act (NMVRA) restored the right to vote to more than 11,000 formerly incarcerated New Mexicans with previous felony convictions. However, election officials rely on faulty data to deny voter registrations from eligible individuals who have prior felony convictions. These confusing denials can only be overcome by appearing in person to prove that they are not in prison, a burdensome and unnecessary requirement.
“New Mexicans who are no longer incarcerated have the freedom to vote like any other voter,” said Blair Bowie, director of Restore Your Vote at Campaign Legal Center. “Yet these individuals are being denied voter registration based on stale, faulty data and then required to register to vote in person to overcome that denial, unlike all other eligible New Mexicans. All this simply to prove that they are not currently in prison, which the state agencies and officials are required to verify themselves. This policy is confusing, needlessly burdensome, and has resulted in the unlawful denial of many eligible voter registrations across the state.”
"By suppressing our voices, the state ensures that we aren’t part of the decisions that shape our futures. Meanwhile, elected officials continue to hold power because the very people they harm don’t see the point in voting – because they are emotionally disenfranchised by the suppression – or cannot participate in democracy – because they are actually disenfranchised by harmful and suppressive policies,” said Justin Allen, Millions for Prisoners New Mexico.
“Every New Mexican should have equal access to the freedom to vote, regardless of whether they have a past felony conviction. We have brought this case so eligible New Mexican voters directly impacted by the criminal legal system can register to vote without having to overcome illegal barriers not required of others. If successful, this case will assure access to voting for formerly incarcerated persons with prior felony convictions, as required by state law," said Daniel Yohalem, co-counsel for Plaintiffs and long-time Santa Fe civil rights attorney.
“I feel that this year is especially important for everyone who is willing, able, and legally has the RIGHT to vote to do so. If we lay down and let them deny us that basic right, then who knows what rights they will strip us of next,” said Plaintiff Amber Daun Smith.
Background:
The New Mexico Voting Rights Act (NMVRA) was passed in 2023, restoring the right to vote to over 11,000 New Mexicans with past felony convictions. However, many eligible voters are unable to register due to inaccurate data that flags them as ineligible. Despite this faulty data, the Secretary of State has told county clerks to deny voter registrations from people with past felony convictions if they are flagged as having ever been convicted of a felony unless they appear in person to prove they are not currently incarcerated.
In addition, the state's extreme delay in updating state voter registration forms means that old, erroneous forms are still widely in circulation, misinforming eligible voters about the eligibility criteria. These outdated State Forms falsely tell applicants on probation or parole they are ineligible to register to vote. The state has also failed to update the federal voter registration form to provide accurate instructions. This means that the New Mexico-specific instructions on the Federal Form likewise still incorrectly state that applicants must complete probation and parole or be pardoned to become eligible to register to vote. These outdated forms are unusable for thousands of eligible voters on probation or parole.
Organizations, like Millions for Prisoners New Mexico, that are dedicated to assisting New Mexicans with past felony convictions register to vote and participate in elections are hamstrung by these policies. Many of the same organizations that worked tirelessly to pass the NMVRA are therefore unable to conduct meaningful outreach to register newly eligible voters to fulfill the law’s promise.
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