Kelly, Colleagues Demand Trump Administration Stop Illegal Voter Roll Purges Before Election Day

This week, Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and 26 of their Democratic colleagues demanded the Trump Administration adhere to the National Voter Registration Act's (NVRA) "quiet period" that prohibits large-scale voter purges within 90 days of an election, pushing back against the Trump Administration's ongoing voter suppression efforts.

In a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, the senators reminded the Trump Administration to adhere to the law and refrain from supporting, assisting, or coercing states into conducting mass voter purges prior to the November midterm elections.

"We are writing to remind you that any efforts directing states to conduct mass voter purges, including by using the deeply flawed Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program to purge voter rolls, would violate the 90 day 'quiet period' mandated by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA)," wrote the senators.

The Trump Administration has demanded voter information from all 50 states, losing 20 lawsuits and counting in the process. A separate court has barred the Administration from misusing federal databases in illegal attempts to remove voters from state voter rolls. In July, President Trump and Secretary Mullin escalated these attacks as part of their ongoing efforts to force states to purge voters ahead of the November general election in a presidential speech and subsequent DHS press conference. The letter copies the chief election officers for all 50 states.

The senators warned that federal courts have ruled against attempted voter purges that fail to comply with the NVRA's "quiet period" by attempting mass voter purges.

"In various lawsuits, federal courts have ruled against states that attempted systemwide voter list removals during the 'quiet period,' including those made under the pretext of removing noncitizen voters," continued the senators. "Outside the 90-day quiet period, voter list maintenance is an important function, but noncitizen voting remains extremely rare."

The senators reiterated that use of the DHS' modified SAVE program, already blocked by federal courts for bulk voter list analysis purposes, would be considered illegal activity in the next 90 days, and condemned Mullin's continued push to advance the program. They also urged the DOJ abandon any efforts to obtain state voter rolls, highlighting the agency has lost every federal court case so far.

"We must re-emphasize that current use of the SAVE program for list maintenance is illegal, and efforts to coerce states to conduct mass voter purges during the 'quiet period' are also illegal under the NVRA, despite DOJ arguments to the contrary in recent court filings," wrote the senators. "The DOJ should also drop its litigation to obtain state voter rolls and its continued threats to prosecute election officials. As you know, DOJ has lost every federal case seeking to obtain states' unredacted voter lists so far. We remain deeply opposed to the waste of taxpayer funds and attacks on state election officials involved with DOJ's continued attempts to compel states to hand over unredacted voter rolls."

The senators requested the agencies provide confirmation that they will comply with the NVRA by August 7^th to prevent any voter suppression prior to Election Day.

This letter continues Kelly's fight to protect free and fair elections from the Trump Administration's attacks. In April, Kelly introduced the bipartisan Absentee and Mail Voter Protection Act to block Trump's unconstitutional executive order targeting mail and absentee ballots. Kelly also demanded that USPS follow the law and not implement that unconstitutional executive order. Alongside Senator Gallego, Kelly demanded an immediate end to the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) sham investigation into the 2020 presidential election results in Arizona that is based on debunked conspiracy theories. In June, Kelly introduced the Protect Our Polls Act to stop the president from using military or federal law enforcement to intimidate voters and interfere with elections.

In addition to Kelly and Padilla, the letter was signed by Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Mark Warner (D-VA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Click here to read the full text of the letter.