Using arcane laws and loopholes, dark money groups are challenging thousands of voter registrations.

Hi,

The New York Times just reported that a "network of right-wing activists and allies of Donald J. Trump is quietly challenging thousands of voter registrations in critical presidential battleground states."1

The Times' report warned that this dark money-funded effort has already purged enough voters from the rolls to "have an impact in a close or contentious election."

But previous research by the think tank Demos shows that the Times report might be dramatically underestimating the threat, given that more than 19 million voter registrations were deleted in the two years following the 2020 presidential election, in some cases simply because voters had failed to turn out to vote in recent cycles.2

We must take action now to protect our elections from partisan sabotage. Will you make a donation to help turn up the heat before it's too late?

Yes, I'll chip in to help Demand Progress Action build support for the Freedom to Vote Act, and other key reforms.

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The new voter-purge efforts uncovered by the New York Times is being led by Cleta Mitchell, an attorney who participated in the phone call during which President Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes" in order to reverse the election result in the state.3

Despite overwhelming evidence that voter impersonation rarely happens and zero evidence of the kind of widespread fraud that might affect the outcome of an election, these groups are having success in pressuring local town clerks to delete voters from the rolls in large numbers by citing arcane legal loopholes and threatening lawsuits.4

In the Democratic-leaning Detroit suburb of Waterford, 1,000 voters were stripped of their registrations, including at least one voter who is in active service in the military.5 (It's legal in many jurisdictions for a voter to retain their home voter registration while temporarily residing elsewhere as a student or in the military.6)

These threats to our democracy are why Demand Progress Action is urging Congress to pass the Freedom to Vote Act, which would prevent partisan election sabotage and safeguard voting rights by:7

  • Creating a national baseline for voting access, preempting many of the most onerous restrictions that have been passed or proposed at the state level in recent years.
  • Requiring two weeks of early voting so people who have to work or travel on Election Day can still vote.
  • Implementing automatic and same-day voter registration nationwide.
  • Requiring states to ensure that no voter is required to stand in line longer than 30 minutes to vote.
  • Cracking down on dark money by requiring anyone who spends over $10,000 to influence an election to report their donors.

Both political parties have been known to engage in voter suppression, and the Freedom to Vote Act would protect all voters from these kinds of undemocratic tactics. Demand Progress Action is a nonpartisan organization. We never, ever endorse candidates or engage in any actions aimed at influencing the outcome of elections.

But in the face of this newly uncovered, dark money-funded voter-purge campaign, it's even more urgent to pass this critical legislation.

Will you make a donation to Demand Progress Action and support our work, including fighting to protect voting rights and passing the Freedom to Vote Act?

With gratitude for all that you do,

The team at Demand Progress Action

Sources:
1. The New York Times, "Trump's Allies Ramp Up Campaign Targeting Voter Rolls," March 6, 2024.
2. Demos, "Protecting Voter Registration: An Assessment of Voter Purge Policies in Ten States," August 10, 2023.
3. The New York Times, "Trump, in Taped Call, Pressured Georgia Official to ‘Find’ Votes to Overturn Election," May 26, 2021.
4. The Washington Post, "A comprehensive investigation of voter impersonation finds 31 credible incidents out of one billion ballots cast," August 6, 2014.
5. The New York Times, "Trump's Allies Ramp Up Campaign Targeting Voter Rolls," March 6, 2024.
6. USA.gov, "Absentee voting and voting by mail," March 12, 2024.
7. Brennan Center for Justice, "What the Freedom to Vote Act Would Do," July 13, 2023.

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