The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed a lawsuit on February 4, 2019, against the Texas Secretary of State David Whitley and election officials for the creation and rollout of a flawed voter purge list that discriminates against naturalized citizens and for sending out notices threatening to cancel voter registrations based on the list. We also sent Secretary Whitely a pre-litigation notice letter stating that he has 90 days to halt the purge or face additional legal challenges under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which permits states only to remove ineligible voters from the list and prohibits discriminatory purges.
The case was filed on behalf of four nonprofits – MOVE Texas Civic Fund, Jolt Initiative, League of Women Voters of Texas, and NAACP of Texas – whose members include naturalized citizens. They are seeking declaration that the Secretary of State’s advisory violates the United States Constitution and the Voting Rights Act, and that the court blocks all Texas counties from sending notices to individuals requiring them to prove their citizenship on the basis of the purge list or from removing any registered voter from the voter rolls based on a failure to respond to such letters.
Press Releases
- National Civil Rights Group Responds to Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Vote Fraud Allegations
- Civil Rights Organizations Sue Texas Officials Over Attempted Voter Purge
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