Election Watchdog: 160 Counties Have More Registered Voters Than are Actually Eligible to Vote

A nonpartisan election integrity group has sent legal notices to 160 counties across the U.S. that it says have more voters on its registration rolls than actual live, eligible voters -- and thus represent potential hotbeds for election fraud, the organization told TheBlaze exclusively.

The Houston-based True the Vote said the counties may be in violation of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act, which mandates that election officials maintain clean voter rolls by removing people who have died, moved away or are no longer eligible to vote. True the Vote is demanding each of the counties show proof of compliance or they'll bring civil suit.

The counties in question are spread across 19 states that together account for 203 electoral college votes, including six current battleground states. Among the counties are LaSalle, Ill., which True the Vote identified as having 520 percent voter registration; Jefferson, Miss. with more than 230 percent; and Hanson, S.D. with 165 percent.

“It’s simply unacceptable for any county to have more voters on its rolls than people who are alive and eligible to vote," True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht said in a statement. "Failing to maintain accurate voter registration records is a flagrant violation of Section 8 in the NVRA.”

True the Vote identified the county irregularities by matching 2010 Census data to publicly available information from the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission.

"We are deeply concerned by our discovery of voter rolls across America that contain substantial numbers of ineligible voters, possibly resulting in the disenfranchisement of eligible voters and the subversion of our nation’s electoral process," the letters to the counties state.

True the Vote spokesman Logan Churchwell told TheBlaze the notices were sent last week. He said True the Vote expects the counties to take proper action to clean their voter rolls well before Election Day in November.

"We don't expect these to go ignored,"  Churchwell said.

True the Vote filed a joint lawsuit against the state of Indiana with the conservative foundation Judicial Watch in June, alleging similar violations of the National Voter Registration Act.

Read more about True the Vote and the importance of election integrity in TheBlaze Magazine's September issue.