4 Groups Seek To Intervene In Lawsuit Filed Against Allegheny Co. Over Purging Voter Polls
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Four groups are asking a federal judge to let them intervene in a lawsuit filed against Allegheny County elections officials by a conservative group that wants to prune the voter registration rolls.
The lawsuit filed by the Public Interest Legal Foundation last week says the group has identified thousands of potentially ineligible voters on the roles for Allegheny County, home of Pittsburgh, including many born over 100 years ago and who may be deceased.
The American Civil Liberties Union, along with the liberal group Demos, is asking that the League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh, the League of Woman Voters of Pennsylvania, One Pennsylvania and the A. Philip Randolph Institute be allowed to intervene in the lawsuit.
County officials have said they don't comment on ongoing litigation but said their primary concern is not disenfranchising anyone registered to vote.
The ACLU's attorneys argue that the foundation's lawsuit does not account for thousands of names that were removed as part of a routine cleanup of the rolls in January. They say that the foundation's assertions of ineligible voters is based on unverified data provided by the foundation and hastily purging the roles has the potential to disenfranchise thousands of voters.
Foundation officials are asking the court to order an investigation of the possibly ineligible voters and that the rolls be purged by the April Primary.
This is the latest in a handful of lawsuits the conservative group has filed across the country to force the pruning of voter registration lists, including a December lawsuit filed in Detroit.
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