48 Kentucky counties have more registered voters than citizens of voting age
WASHINGTON, Nov. 15, 2017 /
Christian Newswire/ -- Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a federal lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Kentucky over its failure to take reasonable steps to maintain accurate voter registration lists. The lawsuit alleges that 48 Kentucky counties have more registered voters than citizens over the age of 18. The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Central Division (
Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Alison Lundergan Grimes et al. (No. 3:17-cv-00094)).
Kentucky was one of
12 states to which Judicial Watch sent
notice-of-violation letters this year threatening to sue because they have counties in which the number of registered voters exceeds the number of citizens of voting age. Both the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Help America Vote Act require states to take reasonable steps to maintain accurate voting rolls.
Judicial Watch analyzed registration data and compared it to the most recent census data to determine the registration rates of United States counties. In its complaint, Judicial Watch notes that Kentucky's registration rates are sky high, and are national outliers:
Whenever a jurisdiction has more voter registrations than individuals old enough to register – in other words, a registration rate exceeding 100% of adult residents – it is a strong indication, recognized by federal courts, that the jurisdiction is not taking the steps required by law to remove the registrations of ineligible registrants.
Kentucky leads every other state in the nation in the number of counties in which total registration exceeds the citizen voting-age population. Specifically, the number of voter registrations exceeds the number of age-eligible citizens in 48 Kentucky counties, or 40% of all Kentucky counties.
Judicial Watch also notes that Kentucky is one of only three states in the country where the statewide active registration rate is greater than 100% of the age-eligible citizen population.
Judicial Watch cites several other deficiencies in Kentucky's handling of voter registration and related issues. Kentucky is required by law to disclose to the federal Election Assistance Commission the number of inactive registrations it carries on its voter rolls. It failed to do so. Kentucky is also required to report the number of address confirmation letters it sent to citizens who were thought to have moved out of state. It failed to release this information as well.
MORE:
www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-sues-kentucky-dirty-voter-registration-rolls/
