HARRISBURG – The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania argues that an Indianapolis legal advocacy group is off-base in its assertions that the state has violated the National Voter Registration Act, in allegedly failing to maintain and update its rolls by removing deceased voters.
Public Interest Legal Foundation of Indianapolis, Ind. first filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on Oct. 15 versus Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar, of Harrisburg.
“The Foundation has spent many thousands of dollars reviewing Pennsylvania’s election procedures and documented failures to maintain an accurate and correct voter roll as required by the NVRA. The Foundation’s investigation of the rolls, both then and now, has forced it to incur substantial costs to compare the Commonwealth’s voter rolls to the Social Security Death Index, various commercial databases, and other sources in order to identify deceased voters,” the suit stated.
The suit said the plaintiff’s own investigation in early 2020 showed that about 9,300 deceased individuals remained on the active voter rolls in Pennsylvania.
Prior to the 2020 Presidential Election, the plaintiff said further investigation showed that more than 21,000 deceased individuals remained on both the active and inactive voter rolls – and after initial cooperation, the plaintiff revealed the Commonwealth has not collaborated with it further.
UPDATE
Counsel for the Commonwealth replied a motion to dismiss the case on Nov. 19 and a supporting brief on Dec. 3, arguing the plaintiff had failed to plead its case with proper detail.
“Plaintiff Public Interest Legal Foundation seeks in this action to compel the Commonwealth to substitute its preferred method of identifying deceased voters for the procedure specifically adopted by the General Assembly pursuant to the directive in the National Voter Registration Act. Notwithstanding a prior amendment, PILF fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted,” the motion stated, in part.
“PILF lacks standing because it alleges only a generalized grievance against a statutory procedure that it views as inadequate. This is not a concrete and particularized injury cognizable under the NVRA and is not traceable to the Secretary of the Commonwealth or redressable by a decision in this case.”
Additionally, the Commonwealth argued that PILF failed to allege a violation of the NVRA, asserting “no facts that plausibly suggest that the Commonwealth’s list maintenance program is unreasonable and, therefore, violative of the NVRA.”
“Because the list maintenance obligation at issue is delegated by statute to the counties in Pennsylvania and neither the General Assembly nor the counties are joined as defendants, the relief that PILF seeks – an order requiring implementation of new procedures to purge the names of deceased voters – is not possible,” the dismissal motion stated.
For counts of violation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 for failure to conduct list maintenance, the plaintiff is seeking extensive relief:
• A declaration that defendant is in violation of Section 8 of the NVRA;
• A declaration that orders the defendant to immediately investigate the deceased registrations identified by plaintiff and remove confirmed deceased registrants from the voter rolls prior to the printing of the poll books, or loading of e-poll books to be used in the Nov. 3, 2020 general election;
• A declaration that orders the defendant to implement and follow a reasonable and effective list maintenance program by Jan. 1, 2021, to cure the violations identified herein and bring the state’s voter rolls into compliance with Section 8 of the NVRA;
• A declaration that orders the defendant to review the Foundation’s data and implement a procedure to flag likely deceased registrant records in advance of election day to ensure that a ballot is not fraudulently cast in their name;
• A declaration that orders the defendant to pay the Foundation’s reasonable attorney’s fees, including litigation expenses and costs, pursuant to 52 U.S.C. Section 20510(c); and,
• Granting plaintiff such further relief as this Court deems just and proper, including all other injunctive relief available to the Court, to ensure that defendant’s failure to comply with Section 8 of the NVRA are cured prior to the 2020 general elections.
The plaintiff is represented by Bradley J. Schlozman of Hinkle Law Firm in Wichita, Kan., John Eastman of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence in Orange, Calif, Linda Ann Kerns of the Law Office of Linda Ann Kerns in Philadelphia and Sue Becker of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, in Indianapolis, Ind.
The defendant is represented by Daniel T. Brier, Donna A. Walsh, John B. Dempsey, Richard L. Armezzani and Suzanne Conaboy of Myers Brier & Kelly in Scranton, plus Stephen Moniak of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, in Harrisburg.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania case 1:20-cv-01905
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com