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Swing States Are Illegally Blocking Voters

NYT finds thousands wrongly removed from rolls, mostly Dems

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 9, 2008 6:46 AM CDT

(Newser) – Tens of thousands of voters in at least six battleground states have been illegally removed from the rolls or blocked from voting, a New York Times investigation has discovered. The actions appear to stem from errors in complying with a 2002 federal law rather than from partisan bias, but it is likely to be Democrats who lose votes.

Key states Michigan and Colorado are breaching regulations by removing names from the rolls within 90 days of a federal election, the investigation found, while Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina, and Ohio appear to be improperly using Social Security data to verify new applications. The violations could pose "extremely serious problems," the chairwoman of the federal body overseeing elections said.

[Images (2)]

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A Nevada registration form is pictured at the Lloyd D. George federal courthouse in Las Vegas, Friday, Aug. 22, 2008. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)

A young voter hands over his identification as he registers to vote at the Chicago Board of Elections Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

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Just as voting machines were the major issue that came out of the 2000 presidential election and provisional ballots were the big issue from 2004, voter registration and these statewide lists will be the top concern this year. - Ohio State law professor Daniel P. Tokaji

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Swing States Are Illegally Blocking Voters