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What are voter purges, and how do they impact elections?

What is a voter purge? Voter purges are supposed to update registered voter lists to remove people who have become ineligible. Common reasons people become ineligible are death, moving out of their voting district, or being incarcerated. 


How are the huge voter purges being reported on right now different?  In recent years we have seen the mass removal of millions of voters from the rolls in states across the country, including many eligible voters erroneously removed without their knowledge. 


Why purge so many voters?  Most proponents of large-scale voter purges cite the risk of voter fraud as the main reason to purge voter rolls. However, study after study has shown that voter fraud is incredibly rare, and when officials do allege that fraud has occurred, the majority of cases involve mistakes by voters or administrators rather than intentional fraud. Even the Trump administration’s own study found no evidence of significant voter fraud, despite the President’s repeated allegations of voter fraud being widespread. 


If voter fraud is essentially nonexistent, and we risk disenfranchising voters when we purge them by mistake, then why the push to remove so many voters from the rolls? Most forms of voter suppression are advanced by Republicans because the young, minority, and other voters most likely to have difficulty meeting the requirements to vote often vote Democratic. This is why we see voter ID laws being advanced by Republican administrations across the country - the voters least likely to have valid ID are African Americans and the poor, and these groups predominantly vote Democratic. These tactics are not new, and historically were used in the south to remove African Americans from lists of registered voters.


For example, in 2017 Brian Kemp led the effort to remove 668,000 voters from the rolls a month before the Gubernatorial election. While some of those voters were appropriate to purge due to their death or moving out of their voting district, an inspection found that 340,134 people had been wrongly purged and should have remained registered to vote. Kemp defeated opponent Stacy Abrams in the following Gubernatorial election by a mere 55,000 votes.


What types of purges are occurring in the run up to the November 2020 election?  A variety of right-wing groups are spending money to purge voters from the rolls in several swing states.  Judicial Watch, a conservative activist group that primarily targets Democratic initiatives through Freedom of Information Act lawsuits largely based on substantiated claims, recently took the states of North Carolina and Pennsylvania to court for not clearing enough voters from the rolls. Another group, Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, pushed to remove 234,000 voters from Wisconsin, an important swing state in the last election. A week after they convinced a judge to proceed with the purge a Trump reelection advisor, Justin Clark, was taped stating,

“Traditionally it’s always been Republicans suppressing votes in places. Let’s start protecting our voters. We know where they are. Let’s start playing offense a little bit. That’s what you’re going to see in 2020. It’s going to be a much bigger program, a much more aggressive program, a much better-funded program.”

Thankfully, an appeals court ruled back in February that the Wisconsin voters should stay registered.     


How do we prevent this type of disenfranchisement from happening in Delaware?  One way is to make sure that care is taken in removing voters from rolls. Currently in Delaware a system called the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) generates a list of deceased voters every month and they are removed from the voting rolls. In addition, Delaware follows the general guidelines set forth in the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (AKA the “Motor Voter Law”). A voter can be purged if they have not voted in two consecutive general elections and if two pieces of mail are returned as undeliverable. Between 2016 and 2018 17,304 Delaware voters were removed from the list of registered voters.


Another way we can ensure that eligible voters are not adversely affected by accidental removal from the rolls is automatic voter registration.  This policy would register any eligible Delaware citizen automatically when they interact with government agencies such as the DMV.  People would have the option to opt-out of registering if they so choose. Over a third of Americans live in areas that have automatic voter registration and these measures are widely supported by groups like the League of Women Voters, NAACP, and AARP.


Lastly, Delaware could implement election day registration, or same-day registration as it is also called.  This policy allows eligible citizens to register and vote on the same day. So if you show up at the polls and your name has been purged, you can register right there and still be able to vote in the election.  Twenty-one states have enacted election day registration along with Washington D.C. 


What can I do to help protect voters in Delaware from accidental purges?  Contact your state legislators and let them know you are in favor of election day registration and automatic voter registration.  Not sure who your legislators are?  You can look them up here.  You can also forward this info to your friends and neighbors and have them do the same.  In a small state like ours a few phone calls and emails can really make a difference.  



Read more about voter roll purges: 


Read more about voter fraud studies


Donate to organizations that protect voting rights


Need to register to vote, find out when elections are, or read about candidates?  



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