The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] on Thursday filed to join a suit [motion] in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York against the New York Board of Election (NYCBOE) [official websites] for improperly purging voters. The NYCBOE is accused by Common Cause New York [advocacy website] of purging voters who had not voted since the 2008 elections and failed to respond to letters asking for identity verification. The DOJ argues the reasoning for the purge is in violation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) [text] and is asking the court for permission to proceed to prevent similar or other unlawful conduct in the future:

WHEREFORE, the United States prays that the Court enter an ORDER: (1) Declaring that Defendants have violated Section 8 of the NVRA; (2) Enjoining Defendants, their agents and successors in office, and all persons acting in concert with them from future non-compliance with Section 8 of the NVRA; (3) Requiring Defendants, their agents and successors in office, and all persons acting in concert with them, to take all steps necessary to ensure immediate and ongoing compliance with Section 8 of the NVRA; and Ordering any such additional relief as the interests of justice may require, together with the costs and disbursement in maintaining this action.

The court has yet to rule on the DOJ’s motion to join the suit.

Issues surrounding the election and voter’ rights continue. The DOJ filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] against a Detroit suburb on Tuesday for allegedly violating the Voting Rights Act. A judge for the US District Court for the District of New Jersey declined to rule [JURIST report] in November that the Republican National Committee had engaged in poll intimidation. A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in November struck down [JURIST report ] several provisions of North Carolina’s House Bill 589, most notably its voter identification requirements.