The U.S. Department of Justice has informed state officials that it is investigating Connecticut’s “motor voter” program — under which citizens can sign up to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles — and has found “widespread noncompliance” with federal laws. “This is to notify you that I have authorized a lawsuit against the state of Connecticut and appropriate state officials to enforce compliance with Section 5 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993,” which applies to local ‘motor voter’ programs in the states,” Vanita Gupta, a deputy assistant U.S. attorney general, wrote April 15 to Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen.
Officials in states around the country run local motor voter programs according to federal legal guidelines — which is why the justice department takes an interest in what happens locally.
Gupta described the state’s alleged noncompliance as follows: “Throughout the State, it appears that applications for a Connecticut driver’s license or a non-driver identification card generally do not serve as applications for voter registration with respect to elections for Federal office, and that change of address forms do not serve as notification of a change of address for voter registration purposes if the applicant is moving between two towns.”
Full Article: U.S. Justice Department Investigating Connecticut Motor Voter Program – Hartford Courant.