Facing allegations of breaking federal law for apparent low voter registration removal numbers, Fresno County says it has done nothing wrong.
Last month, nonprofit Judicial Watch threatened Fresno County with a lawsuit for allegedly violating Section 8 of the National Voting Rights Act of 1993 (NVRA), which stipulates a requirement for a voter registration maintenance program.
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Judicial Watch said Fresno County only removed two voter registrations from November 2016 to November 2020, as was reported in the 2020 Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS).
That low removal count comes as Fresno County reported 573,873 registered voters in November 2020.
But Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters James Kus said in a statement to The Sun that Fresno County is in compliance with the NVRA and plans to resolve Judicial Watch’s concerns amicably.
As requested, Fresno County will also provide Judicial Watch with voting registration records for the questioned period.
Kus said the EAVS report had out-of-date information, leading to inaccurate voter registration numbers.
“Pursuant to federal law, the EAVS report only occurs every two years, after each federal general election, making some data subject to rapidly being out of date, especially in regard to processes like those in NVRA Section 8 that require multiple actions and tracking over a multi-year, multi-election period,” Kus said.
“The Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters Department regards voter registration maintenance as a day-to-day core function of the Department.”
