Dems move to defend Maryland voters in Republican purge lawsuit

Democrats moved to intervene in a Republican-led lawsuit targeting Maryland’s voter rolls Monday, arguing the case threatens to disenfranchise eligible voters, undermine election access and divert resources to keep voters registered.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC)  asked to join the case brought by the Republican National Committee (RNC) against Maryland election officials, alleging that the RNC’s demands for aggressive voter list maintenance put lawful voters at risk of being wrongly removed — especially people who move within the state, including students and renters.

The RNC’s challenge centers on the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), a landmark federal law that requires states to make “reasonable” efforts to keep voter rolls accurate while also protecting eligible voters from improper removal. 

The DNC argues the RNC is trying to stretch that law far beyond its limits in ways that would disenfranchise voters.

“Overly aggressive list maintenance may lead to errors that remove registrants who still meet state eligibility criteria,” the motion reads. “Members of the Democratic Party erroneously flagged as ineligible will be harmed by loss of voter registration status, particularly if they are removed from the rolls after the close of registration for an upcoming election.”

The RNC’s lawsuit claims Maryland’s voter rolls are inflated and seeks a court order requiring officials to ensure ineligible voters are not on the rolls.

The DNC says that kind of mandate sounds straightforward but can be dangerous in practice. 

“Any procedure to ‘ensure that ineligible registrants are not on the voter rolls’ would risk the removal of misidentified eligible voters,” the motions adds. 

A major focus in the case is how the state handles voters who move frequently. 

The RNC argues Maryland should further scrutinize voters who move between counties and possibly flag them for removal. The DNC counters that this approach would disproportionately harm voters who move often, such as students. 

“Ultimately, erroneous or unnecessary purges based on suspected changes of residence within the State would harm Democratic campaigns, as Democratic voters are more frequent movers than Republicans,” the motion continues. 

The party also warned that the RNC’s theory on the NVRA, if accepted by the court, would not be limited to Maryland. 

“Most notably, acceptance of the RNC’s novel and unsupported theory that the NVRA requires States to place intercounty movers on the path to removal from the registration rolls would threaten the registration status of Democratic-leaning voters across the country,” the motion concludes.

DNC chair Ken Martin framed the RNC’s latest lawsuit as part of their escalating campaign to restrict voting rights.

“Republicans continue to wage a relentless campaign to disenfranchise voters,” Martin said in a statement following the motion’s filing. “If a Maryland voter moves to a different county in the state, they still have the right to vote, period. The DNC won’t stand quietly — that’s why we’ve moved to intervene in this case, to stand up for voters across Maryland and across the country. We will not back down when voters across this country are under attack.”

The outcome of the case could have national implications on how far courts will allow partisan actors to push for mass voter purges.