By PETER HANCOCK
Capitol News Illinois
phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com
Article summary:
- The Justice Department is supporting a lawsuit by private entities that challenges Illinois’ practice of putting local election officials in charge of maintaining voter registration rolls.
- The action appears to be part of a broader effort to exert more federal control over election procedures, including voter registration.
- The suit claims local officials have done a poor job of maintaining their lists as required by the National Voter Registration Act.
- A ruling could come as early as July 30.
This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.
The U.S. Department of Justice added its voice this month to a lawsuit by private entities accusing the state of Illinois of failing to properly maintain a statewide voter registration list, in violation of a 1993 federal law.
In a filing known as a “statement of interest,” the Justice Department said the government has an interest in the outcome of the lawsuit, although the filing stops short of asking the court for permission to intervene as a party in the case.
“This case presents important questions regarding enforcement of the National Voter Registration Act,” attorneys in DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said in the filing. “Congress has vested the Attorney General with authority to enforce the NVRA (National Voter Registration Act) on behalf of the United States. Accordingly, the United States has a substantial interest in ensuring proper interpretation of the NVRA.”
The lawsuit challenges the state’s practice of delegating to local election officials the responsibility of conducting regular maintenance of voter registration rolls, including the task of purging people from the rolls when they die or move out of the jurisdiction. Under NVRA, the suit argues, the state is responsible for carrying out that function.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Judge Sara Ellis has indicated she could decide the case at a hearing currently scheduled for July 30.
The DOJ filing comes at the same time the Trump administration has been launching multi-pronged efforts for the federal government to exert more influence over voter registration in the United States, a task traditionally reserved for states.
In March, Trump signed an executive order purporting to require people to show documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when they register to vote. That order has since been blocked from being enforced while a legal challenge to it proceeds.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported July 16 that the DOJ has asked at least nine other states for complete copies of their voter rolls, and at least two reportedly have turned them over.
So far, the DOJ has not requested similar data from Illinois. Officials at the Illinois State Board of Elections declined to comment on the DOJ filing, saying they do not comment on pending litigation.
Basis of lawsuit
The suit was filed in 2024 by Judicial Watch, a conservative legal advocacy group known for filing Freedom of Information Act lawsuits to investigate allegations of official misconduct.
Other plaintiffs include Wheaton-based Breakthrough Ideas, a conservative advocacy group headed by former Republican state Rep. Jeanne Ives; Illinois Family Action, a Christian political advocacy group based in Tinley Park; and Carol J. Davis, identified as a DuPage County resident and member of Judicial Watch.
The complaint is based on a provision of NVRA that requires states to “conduct a general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters” if they have died or changed their address.
The complaint also cites federal regulations that require each state’s chief election officer to submit various kinds of election-related data to the federal Election Assistance Commission, including “the total number of registrations statewide that were, for whatever reason, deleted from the registration list … between the past two federal general elections.”
The election commission collects that data and publishes biennial reports that are delivered to Congress summarizing the information it receives.
According to the complaint, the commission’s reports indicated that much of the required information from Illinois was missing. For example, the complaint notes, from November 2020 through November 2022, 11 Illinois counties reported removing zero voters from their registration lists, suggesting that no registered voters had moved or died in those counties over the two-year period. Twelve other counties reported removing 15 or fewer registrations over that same period.
The complaint described those as “absurdly small numbers,” given that those 23 counties were home to more than 980,000 registered voters.
In a letter to Judicial Watch responding to a request to supply the missing data, State Board of Elections Executive Director Bernadette Matthews wrote that the agency does not maintain such information because Illinois is a “bottom up jurisdiction” where local jurisdictions – including 102 counties and six municipal election authorities – are responsible for maintaining their own voter registration lists.
“This makes sense, as local election authorities are responsible for determining a voter’s continuing eligibility to vote in their jurisdiction,” Matthews wrote.
The plaintiffs, however, argue that NVRA gives states the responsibility for keeping voter registration lists up to date, and they cannot delegate that responsibility to local jurisdictions.
That is also the argument that the DOJ made in its statement of interest.
“By its plain terms, the NVRA identifies one entity—the state—to carry out the administration of voter registration for federal elections,” DOJ argued.
Defendants’ response
The Illinois attorney general’s office, which is defending the State Board of Elections, has filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, arguing the plaintiffs lack standing to bring the suit. It also claims the plaintiffs have not stated a valid claim because NVRA allows states to delegate its responsibilities to local authorities.
Two labor unions — the Illinois AFL-CIO and the Illinois Federation of Teachers — have intervened in support of the state’s position. They argue that they spend considerable resources to ensure their members can vote in Illinois elections and they have an interest in making sure none of their members are unlawfully purged from the voter rolls if the plaintiffs succeed in the case.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
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