U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan issued the order, in Common Cause N.Y. v. Brehm, to include Inactive Voters Names at Polling Places, in Common Cause N.Y. v. Brehm.

Judge Nathan wrote that the State improperly Designated Tens of Thousands of Votes as “Inactive” even though the Individuals continue to Live at the Address where they are currently Registered to Vote. She blamed Problems with the U.S. Postal Service and the National Change of Address Registry for providing Unreliable Information, something that Local Election Officials corroborated in their own Testimony during the Trial.

“The quality of the information that we get from the United States Post Office is the linchpin to the success of the inactivity process,” Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the New York City Board of Elections, Testified during the Trial. He also said the City has Uncovered, “significant issues with the consistency of the information we get from the post office.” Robert Brehm, the Co-Executive Director of the State Board of Elections also Testified to Problems with relying on Post Office Information.

The Decision marks the latest Victory for Common Cause, the Plaintiff in the Case, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, LatinoJustice (PRLDEF), and the Law Firm Dechert LLP, which Filed the Lawsuit in 2017 on the Good Government Group’s behalf.

The Order follows a Four-day Bench Trial in October 2019.

The Court concludes that New York’s Refusal to Provide Inactive Voter Lists at polling Locations Violates the Equal Protection Clause.

The State is therefore Ordered to provide the Names of Inactive Voters Registered to Vote in a particular Election District to the Poll Workers of that Election District.

As New York is starting to use Electronic Poll Books, they would need to also be Updated with those Names.

The Court further concluded that the State’s Affidavit-Ballot Process does Not Violate the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Court identified Three discrete Voters as to whom the State Violated the National Voter Registration Act.

Besides the Address problem, in New York, a Voter is considered Inactive, if they do Not Vote in Two Consecutive Federal Elections and Not responding to a Mailing. Then if they do Not Vote in Two more Consecutive Federal Elections, they are Removed from the Rolls.

AS of Nov. 2019, there were 1,086,066 Inactive Voters on the Voter Rolls.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker