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23 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 483 (1988)
The Purging of Empowerment: Voter Purge Laws and the Voting Rights Act

handle is hein.journals/hcrcl23 and id is 493 raw text is: THE PURGING OF EMPOWERMENT: VOTER PURGE LAWS AND THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia have statutes which authorize election authorities to purge the names of voters from registration lists. Although these laws are aimed at reduc- ing the opportunity for vote fraud by identifying unqualified voters, they in fact often remove large numbers of qualified registrants from voting rolls. In addition, these laws place the burden of reregistration squarely on the purged party.' In so doing, purge laws potentially thwart political participation and place a particularly disproportionate burden on minority voters. The discriminatory impact of these laws becomes clear when examined within the sociopolitical context of their application to black Americans, a historically disenfranchised and econom- ically deprived minority group. Part I of this Comment begins by examining the history and impact of voting discrimination against black Americans. Part II of this Comment then analyzes current state purge laws and argues that election laws should shift the burden of reregistration from the purged individual to the state or political subdivision conducting the purge. Part III examines purge procedures currently used by states. Part IV then argues that many of these procedures violate the express terms of the statute authorizing the purge, Section 2 and Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act,2 and the equal protec- tion clause and the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment. While various congressional initiatives, including the 1982 amendments to the Voting Rights Act,3 were passed to eliminate I See infra text accompanying notes 34-39. The burden of reregistration encom- passes activities required by a voter to place her name back on the registration rolls. These activities do not always require formal reregistration. As will be discussed in Part III of this Comment, a voter may be placed back on the registration lists if she completes various reinstatement procedures, or, in the case of private challenges, if she completes response requirements. See text accompanying notes 118-33, 141-48. Nonetheless, reinstatement and response procedures are often quite burdensome to a voter. This burden should be placed upon the state. 2 42 U.S.C. § 1973, Pub. L. 97-205 (1982); 42 U.S.C. § 1973c, Pub. L. 94-73 (1981). 3 42 U.S.C. § 1973, Pub. L. 97-205 (1982).

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