After receiving reports from their local community partners regarding large numbers of rejected voter registration applications—particularly from students at the historically African-American Norfolk State University—Project Vote and its voting partner, Advancement Project, sought to review Norfolk’s rejected registration applications to ascertain if qualified persons were unlawfully kept off the voting rolls. Elisa Long, the general registrar of Norfolk, and Nancy Rodrigues, secretary of the State Board of Elections denied Project Vote and Advancement Project the right to review the records.  Due to this failure, both groups—along with pro bono attorneys from Ropes & Gray LLP—filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia.

The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) has a public disclosure provision mandating states to adhere to certain requirements. In particular, the provision requires that records relating to the implementation of voter registration programs and activities be made available to the public for inspection and photocopying upon request. Virginia law, by contrast, prohibits many voter registration records—including rejected voter registration applications—from being disclosed.

Project Vote and its partner notified the Norfolk registrar and the State Board of Elections last summer about the conflict between Virginia and federal law and urged them to follow federal requirements, because when there is a contradiction between state and federal statues, the prevailing rule of law is the federal statue. Last fall, however, election officials indicated that in their estimation, no conflict existed and they believed that the Norfolk officials were acting properly in accordance with state law.

The lawsuit is currently pending.

Complaint. February 2010.