Voter Purging Claims, Incorrect Voter Rolls

A new report says thousands of people across the country will not be able to cast their vote on Election Day.

By: Abe Nelson | News Channel 7
Published: October 01, 2008

A new report says thousands of people across the country will not be able to cast their vote on Election Day.

On Tuesday, the Brennan Center for Justice released a report that claims, "...election officials across the country are routinely striking millions of voters from the rolls through a process that is shrouded in secrecy, prone to error..."

It found Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana have inappropriately purged or removed nearly 32,000 thousand voters this year.

While the report does not name South Carolina and the state's election commission says inappropriate purging does not happen here, we did find the inaccurate information in the state's voter registration rolls.

The South Carolina Election Commission says its voter purging process is open to the public and it keeps voter rolls accurate. Purging is when dead voters or felons are removed from voter rolls. It prevents people from voting that should not.

News Channel 7 wanted to know if the state's purging system works. With the help of Investigative Reporters and Editors, we looked through more than two million voter registration records. We found two dead voters in the state's voter registration database:
•Scott George: lived in Williamsburg County and died in 2003.
•James marshall: lived in York county and died in 2006

The state says despite this mistake, voters have nothing to worry about, “Our records are accurate and they are safe,” says Garry Baum, Public Information Office for the S.C. Election Commission.

Baum also says the state removes most voters who have died almost immediately once it cross-checks its voter list with a monthly report deceased state residents.

So, why is this important? It's important because voters expect the state to keep accurate records during an election, and if dead voters are left on the registration rolls, it makes you wonder what else may be incorrect.