JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REACHES AGREEMENT WITH PULASKI COUNTY, ARKANSAS ELECTION OFFICIALS OVER VIOLATIONS OF THE NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice today announced that it reached an agreement with Pulaski County, Arkansas and its election officials over violations of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993. The violations stemmed from the county’s failure to properly register voters and maintain voter registration rolls for federal elections. Pulaski County is the most populous county in Arkansas and it includes the city of Little Rock.

The consent decree, along with a complaint, was filed today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. The district court must approve this decree before it becomes effective. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division first initiated an investigation in this matter after it was alerted to serious problems with Pulaski County's voter registration practices that may have resulted in the disenfranchisement of numerous voters.

“Citizens who register to vote should be assured that elections officials will correctly record their registration so they will be able to exercise their right to vote without confusion or delay,” said Assistant Attorney General R. Alexander Acosta. “The integrity of federal elections depends, in large measure, on local election officials properly registering voters and maintaining accurate and complete voter rolls. We will not hesitate to enforce federal law where election officials fail to do what the law requires of them.”

“It's best for local officials to maintain the integrity of their own election systems, but election procedures have obviously gotten out of control in Pulaski County,” said Bud Cummins, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. “It's appropriate for the Department of Justice to step-in and insure corrective action.”

County election officials have agreed to remedy the problems in Pulaski County’s voter registration roll. The consent decree requires county election officials to develop and implement uniform and nondiscriminatory rules and policies governing the maintenance of an accurate and current voter registration roll in compliance with NVRA. In addition, county election officials have agreed to:

• Ensure that all voter registration applications received within 30 days of a federal election are processed in a timely manner so eligible applicants are registered to vote in that election;
• Conduct a general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove the names of voters who have died or moved out of the county from the official list of eligible voters;
• Restore to the voter rolls any voters who may have been improperly removed;
• Provide voter access to a "polling place lookup" feature so that voters may identify their assigned polling place via a website and by telephone.

The consent decree also permits Justice Department attorneys to monitor voting procedures inside polling places and inside the Clerk’s office during elections in Pulaski County.

Additional information about the NVRA or other federal voting rights statutes may be found at website of the Voting Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division: www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/index.htm. <http://www.usdoj.gov>

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