Elections officials deny illegally purging voters
By AP STAFF
Associated Press
October 10, 2008
Page 2 of 2
In Georgia, federal officials say some 2 million checks have been completed, but only 406,000 new voters registered. The Department of Justice has questioned the checks, and state officials say they are trying to determine how federal authorities arrived at that figure.
North Carolina elections watchdog Bob Hall, who heads the advocacy group Democracy North Carolina, defended the state's elections board. Hall said he has found that many registration forms are incomplete or partly illegible and that many prospective voters provide Social Security numbers instead of driver's licenses. Because of that, he said it's not surprising that the state would need to run so many verifications through the Social Security Administration database.
Indiana also defended its procedures. "Using all available appropriate technology is our best way to combat voter fraud that we know exists in this state and across the country," Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita said in a statement Thursday.
If voters were wrongfully removed from rolls, the concern is that on Election Day, voters who have been removed from the rolls could show up and be challenged by political party officials or election workers. And because Democrats have more aggressively registered voters, any discrepancy could disproportionately affect them.
In Colorado, the secretary of state's office disputed any wrongdoing and said potentially ineligible voters have been put on "canceled status," which it says isn't the same as taking them off rolls. Those who have died or moved away are among thsoe considered "canceled," said Rich Coolidge, a spokesman for Secretary of State Mike Coffman. Coolidge said voters who have been wrongly canceled can cast provisional ballots that would be counted after elections officers verify they are eligible.
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