The U.S. Department of Justice announced today it has filed a lawsuit against Robert Page, the Registrar of Voters for Orange County, California, alleging violations of federal election law related to voter registration records.
The complaint, filed in federal court, accuses Page of refusing to provide the Justice Department with records related to the removal of non-citizens from the county’s voter registration rolls. The lawsuit also alleges that Orange County failed to maintain accurate voter registration lists, in violation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).
“Voting by non-citizens is a federal crime, and states and counties that refuse to disclose all requested voter information are in violation of well-established federal elections laws,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Removal of non-citizens from the state’s voter rolls is critical to ensuring that the State’s voter rolls are accurate and that elections in California are conducted without fraudulent voting. The Department of Justice will hold jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal voting laws accountable.”
The Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section is charged with enforcing several federal laws aimed at protecting the integrity of elections, including the Voting Rights Act, the National Voter Registration Act, HAVA, and the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act.
