Press Contact:
Elliot Levy
Press Contact
202-800-7409
Release Date: Tuesday, August 8, 2017
New York - Following actions by the Department of Justice to allow states to more easily purge voters from their rolls, even with no evidence that a voter has moved or become ineligible, Bend the Arc Jewish Action CEO, Stosh Cotler, issued the following statement:
“The DOJ’s decision to support voter purges is a chilling and blatant political move to restrict who gets to vote. President Trump’s voter suppression efforts are clear attempts to avoid accountability for his unpopular policies, and they threaten the basic institutions of our democracy. As Jewish Americans, we are especially vigilant to these displays of authoritarianism and will fight back whenever they occur.
“In addition to being a hostile assault on voting rights, this new position by the DOJ defies logic and common sense. If ‘inactivity’ is all it takes to purge voters, without even a requirement that they be notified, Americans across the country could be purged from the rolls and not realize it until Election Day, when it is often too late to restore their registration.
“Our goal as a society should be to increase participation by making voting easier, not harder, and accessible to all eligible voters. That is the cause for which generations of civil rights activists and suffragists put their lives on the line. From the president’s ludicrous claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election, to the Pence-Kobach commission established in an attempt to justify more voter suppression, to this latest decision by the DOJ, it is shamefully clear that the president and his administration are more interested in shrinking the electorate than in having fair and open elections.”
