DENVER – Thousands of Colorado residents who had been scratched from voter registration rolls will be allowed to cast ballots on Election Day and their votes will be given special protection to ensure they are counted, following the resolution of a federal lawsuit filed against the state.
Colorado Common Cause and other groups alleged in a lawsuit filed last week that the state illegally removed an estimated 27,000 people from the voter list during the 90 days leading up to the August primary.
The groups argued that federal law prohibits any systematic removal of names from voter rolls within 90 days of an election with three exceptions: voters who have been convicted of a felony, have died or have requested removal.
Lawyers for the Colorado attorney general's office countered that the names were removed to correct voter registration records, in some cases because the voter had moved or was registered more than once. No eligible voter would be denied the right to vote, they said.
Under an agreement reached by both sides late Wednesday, the state will generate a list of voters whose registrations were canceled before the August primary. Those voters will have to cast provisional ballots on Election Day, but their ballots must be counted unless election officials can prove the voters were ineligible.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081031/ap_on_el_ge/voter_purges
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