Texas election officials have been removing more people from the state’s voter rolls ever since the Supreme Court struck down a part of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, according to a new report from the Brennan Center for Justice. The group says the court’s decision to specifically strike down one provision of the law led to the rise in voter purges. The preclearance provision, also known as Section 5, required several states – including Texas – to get an OK from the federal government before enacting voting laws, changing election procedures or taking people off voter rolls. States purge their voter rolls periodically to remove people who have died or committed a felony.
Myrna Perez, deputy director of the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program and leader of the center’s Voting Rights and Elections project, says she sees a link between the court’s decision and recent voter purges.
“There is a there there regarding the enfeebling of the preclearance provision,” she says.
The Brennan Center report looked at voter purges across the country. It found “changes were particularly notable in three states: Georgia, Texas, and Virginia.” The states were covered by Section 5 until the Supreme Court struck it down.
Full Article: With Less Federal Supervision, Texas Drops More People From Voter Rolls | KUT.