A study of 10 states’ voter purge policies released earlier this month identified potential barriers to voter participation and urged reform in Indiana and nine others.
The study, released Aug. 10 and conducted by the New York-based racial justice think tank Demos, assessed the rules governing how and when registered voters are removed from voting rolls in Indiana, Arizona, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin — states selected for their diversity and representative qualities.
Such rules are designed to ensure election integrity by purging voters who have moved away, are deceased, or are otherwise ineligible to vote in future elections. In implementation, however, the study’s authors found that these little-known rules can result in eligible voters being improperly stricken from the rolls, hampering their ability to participate in representative government.
“We are in a fight for the life of our democracy,” Demos associate director of litigation Estee Konor told the Post-Tribune, “and in that fight, every detail matters.”