Watchdog Group Sues for Voter Registration Data Under National Voter Registration Act

(Worthy News) – Judicial Watch, a watchdog group, filed a lawsuit today in order to access voter registration lists in Maryland when it was discovered that the Montgomery County had more registered voters than citizens over the age of 18.

Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit today in order to gain access under federal law to voter registration lists in Montgomery County, Maryland. The suit was filed against Montgomery County and the Maryland State Boards of Elections under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA). The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Baltimore Division (Judicial Watch vs. Linda H. Lamone, et al. (No. 1:17-cv-02006)).

In an April 11, 2017, notice letter sent to Maryland election officials, Judicial Watch explained that there were more registered voters in Montgomery County than there were citizens over the age of 18. The letter threatened a lawsuit if the problems with Montgomery County’s voter rolls were not fixed. The letter also requested access to Montgomery County voter registration lists in order to evaluate the efficacy of any “programs and activities conducted for the purpose of ensuring the accuracy and currency of Maryland’s official eligible voter lists during the past 2 years.” On July 7, Maryland denied Judicial Watch access to the voter registration list because Maryland laws supposedly restricts the release of voter registration information only to Maryland registered voters.

But Section 8(i) of the NVRA provides that “[e]ach State shall maintain for at least 2 years and shall make available for public inspection and, where available, photocopying at a reasonable cost, all records concerning the implementation of programs and activities conducted for the purpose of ensuring the accuracy and currency of official lists of eligible voter.” [ Source: Judicial Watch (Read More…) ]