Report: ‘Voter purges’ could wrongfully target Arizona voters

Arizona is in litigation over a 2022 law that could allow for what some are calling “draconian purge practices” that lead to more Arizona voters being disenfranchised.

According to Demos, a think-tank that works on racial-justice issues, “purging” or removing records of people who’ve died or moved away is a necessary part of maintaining state voter-registration rolls. However, the group’s new report called out what it saw as “flawed” voter-purge practices.

Angela Hanks, chief of programs at Demos, said it’s concerned that, of the roughly 19 million removals between the 2020 and 2022 elections across the country, about a quarter of those were for inactivity, “which means failure to respond to a confirmation notice, or not voting in at least two consecutive federal general elections. And so, these types of practices are flawed, and they tend to lead to people, who are eligible to vote, not being able to access voting when an election rolls around.”

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Hanks said it is up to states to take action, but also the federal government. The Freedom to Vote Act was reintroduced in Congress in July, which she said could improve voting policies across the board.

Read the full article in Arizona News Connection