Trials, tribulations, and hope on the horizon

The Fair Fight v. True the Vote trial has ended. We now await the court’s decision. Thank you for all of your prayers and support over these past several weeks.

What’s at stake? The essential right of voters to assist in updating voter registration records by filing inquiries with their counties. In many states, like Georgia, such inquiries (sometimes referred to as elector or voter challenges) can often be the best hope for accurate rolls and trustworthy elections.

How did all of this start? Well, let’s begin at the beginning … forty-four states and Washington, D.C. are required to adhere to federal voter roll maintenance standards loosely defined through the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). Why only 44 and DC? Idaho, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Wyoming use “continuous” registration. This practice, also known as “same day voter registration”, kept them out of the NVRA - and North Dakota doesn’t require voter registration.

The NVRA was passed in 1993, when people and data both moved more slowly. NVRA maintenance requires a multi-step process, drafted in a time before the internet and real-time capabilities to resolve eligibility, making it unnecessarily difficult to keep state registries up to date. Case in point, Georgia. The way Georgia has chosen to manage compliance with the NVRA is to limit it’s statewide maintenance efforts to the first six months of every odd year.

Yes, you read that right. Several months ago, Georgia announced its updates to approximately 700,000 voter records. It will be the summer of 2025 before they do any more statewide maintenance. A lot can (and will) happen between now and the summer of 2025.

And how do states update their rolls? Many states, including Georgia, use the services of a non-profit organization called ERIC to keep them in compliance with NVRA (both in voter registration and voter roll maintenance). ERIC, and it’s data partner CEIR, have not proven trustworthy, as evidenced by the exodus of states in recent years. But … that’s fodder for another newsletter.

Beyond the NVRA, states also have to contend with never ending lawsuits filed by special interest groups who seek to further prevent voter rolls from being maintained. Why? Good question. Who stands to benefit if voter records are inaccurate? Those willing to exploit the inaccuracies. Add in mass mail ballots and dropboxes, remove signature verification and ID … it’s not a good scenario.

However, there is another path to supporting accurate voter rolls through voter engagement. Most states offer provisions for a voter to submit eligibility inquiries to the county in which they are registered. It’s up to the county to decide what to do with the inquiry, but it’s still a better option than not inquiring at all. With the ready availability of data from useful resources like the US Postal Service’s National Change of Address (NCOA) registry, voter inquiries can be a huge assistance in counties of states that conduct slow or no maintenance.

And that’s how the Fair Fight v. True the Vote lawsuit started. In 2020, we helped Georgia citizens file inquiries. Using data from accredited sources, including the NCOA, we identified over 364,000 records that appeared to be ineligible. The number, though large, was an accurate reflection of a statewide data set that hadn’t been maintained in nearly two years.

Within days of announcing the project, Fair Fight sued us. You can read more about the suit here. It’s gone on for almost three years, leading finally to trial. And now we will wait to see what happens next.

Friends, if states won’t keep their voter rolls updated, citizens must have an outlet through which to lawfully petition their government and speak out in support of election integrity. It’s that simple. It’s incredibly important. And it’s not only about Georgia. This is a national issue. Voter rolls must be kept accurate.

Little attention was paid to this historic case. We stood alone. It makes us wonder if other organizations really don’t see the problem, or if they choose to stay quiet in order to avoid being on the receiving end of lawsuits, as we so often are.

Lawsuits are no fun. Nor is the slander and scorn … no fun at all. But, we will not stand idly by and watch as America’s elections continue to erode. We will engage. Our goal? Trustworthy elections. For everyone.

When you support True the Vote, you are supporting the tip of the spear. We fight the fights others will not. And we will not quit. Working together we can achieve massive improvements in election process. We can encourage more people to participate. And we can restore confidence. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.

This Monday night, 11.13, at 7p et,  I’ll share my thoughts on the lawsuit … and other trials and tribulations still ahead. But there is hope on the horizon. America is waking up, and not a minute too soon, because 2024 will be here before we know it. On the podcast, I’ll outline a few simple steps every one can take to engage and uphold trustworthy elections. Click the image below, and it’ll take you straight to the event. See ya there!

Keep the faith. Never quit.

Ever onward -

P.S. This weekend I was honored to receive an award from Intercessors for America. IFA’s mission is to intercede in prayer on behalf of our country and its leaders. They also pray for specific areas of interest - and True the Vote is fortunate to be one of the groups they cover. If you haven’t heard of IFA, please check them out. I cannot say enough good things about this organization.

“Confess your faults to one another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” - James 5:16