More than 1,000 names have been removed from voter rolls in the Historic Triangle after their names were found on a list of voters registered in other states from the Virginia State Board of Elections.
About 640 names were removed in York County, 488 in James City County and about 75 in the City of Williamsburg, which has not yet finished checking names on the list. The lists were received by the localities in August as part of what James City County registrar A.J. Cole Sr. described as a “systematic voter registration database maintenance act” undertaken in accordance with Virginia law.
The State Board of Elections compiled the list of about 57,000 names statewide by using a data-sharing program with 25 other states. The list is now the subject of a lawsuit filed by the Virginia Democratic Party in U.S. District Court, alleging the list contains names that should not be there. According to an article in the Washington Post, “the court action names Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II as defendants and alleges that there were political motivations behind a ‘purge list’ of about 57,000 voters whose names were also found on voter rolls in other states.”
For Historic Triangle registrars, the list is a matter of ensuring accurate voter rolls. It’s similar to lists received from the Social Security Administration naming dead people and from the court system naming convicted felons who are no longer eligible to vote.
“A person doesn’t get onto the list by accident,” Cole said. “The list is generated from a list of names in two or more states where the first name, the last name, the last four digits of the social security number and the date of birth are 100 percent matches.”
He said the list contained 539 James City County voters, with 488 of them being removed from the rolls after each case had been researched on an individual basis. To determine if a person should be removed, the date when a person registered to vote is compared to the date they registered to vote in the other state.
In York County, about 700 names were on the list, with 640 removed after investigating each case. Walt Latham, the York County registrar, said the people who were removed from the rolls had no activity in Virginia after registering to vote in other states. He said 14 people who registered to vote in other states but continued to vote in Virginia were sent letters to confirm they were still Virginia residents.
Win Sowder, the registrar for Williamsburg, said the list contained about 160 names of Williamsburg residents. She said she has removed about 75 people from the voter rolls who have registered in other states but that she won’t be able to investigate each case on an individual basis before the election Nov. 5.
The election is on Nov. 5, and the last day to register to vote is today. The State Board of Elections maintains a website where citizens can check to see if they’re registered to vote.
