The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) applauded the Department of Justice (DOJ) for using the Foundation’s research in a formal inquiry to Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt over the state’s failure to maintain accurate voter rolls in compliance with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).
In a letter to Secretary Schmidt, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division cited PILF’s recent findings identifying serious flaws in Pennsylvania’s statewide voter registration list. PILF uncovered 19,489 registrants holding matched voter registration files in other states, 3,170 instances of same-address duplications, 70 intra-county duplicates, and 321 placeholder/fictitious dates of birth.
These findings were in addition to the state’s self-reported data to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission showing unusually low rates of duplicate registration detection and removal compared to national averages.
“It should not take federal intervention to ensure the Commonwealth follows the law, but we are pleased the DOJ is demanding answers,” said PILF President J. Christian Adams. “Our work provided the roadmap for this federal inquiry, and we will continue to monitor the state’s compliance closely.”
The DOJ’s inquiry requests detailed explanations for why Pennsylvania reports such low rates of duplicate voter identification, why so many counties report zero removals, and why large numbers of transactions are categorized as “other” without explanation. The letter also demands information on Pennsylvania’s efforts to remove ineligible voters due to non-citizenship, mental incompetence, or felony convictions.
PILF’s research is part of its ongoing national effort to identify and address failures in voter roll maintenance. The Foundation has long argued that such failures create opportunities for fraud, violate federal law, and can even shift election results.
The full DOJ letter can be read here.
For more information or to schedule an interview with J. Christian Adams, please contact Douglas Blair at dblair@publicinterestlegal.org or call 503-956-9899