The State of Rhode Island is in violation of federal elections law, specifically the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), according to a report issued Thursday by two-time gubernatorial candidate Ken Block. Block joined WPRO’s Matt Allen Thursday to discuss his findings. LISTEN BELOW.
According to Block, “the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) requires states to only register voters who provide either driver’s licenses or Social Security numbers on their voter registration forms. Only if a voter has not been issued either form of documentation is a state then allowed to accept other forms of identification. States are required to verify the data collected above with either the DMV or Social Security Administration prior to allowing the registration to be finalized. Rhode Island only performs the mandated requirements above for voters who register by mail.”
“Rhode Island was in compliance with HAVA until August, 2008, when the Board of Elections promulgated modified voter registration rules that were in violation of HAVA. As a result of the rules change, a large number of new voters registered to vote without presenting PII ahead of the 2008 election and then voted in that election.”
In reply to Mr Block’s study and filing, Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea issued the following statement:
“We first received notice of Mr. Ken Block’s complaint to the US Department of Justice at 10 a.m. this morning through the Providence Journal’s reporting. His complaints are in response to changes in 2008 to the Board of Elections Rules and Regulations for voter registration.
We have also been looking into the information required of first-time registrants by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). HAVA specifies that anyone registering to vote for the first time must provide either a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their social security number if they have them.
We’ve already had conversations with the Board of Elections about updating their rules and regulations, trainings, and procedures for voter registration.
Since taking office, the work we have done to modernize elections has greatly improved the quality of the information we collect for eligible voters. For example, we implemented online voter registration last year, which requires first-time registrants to provide a Rhode Island driver’s license or state ID to complete their voter registration. This information is also captured for voters updating their voter information online.
As for Mr. Block’s concerns with Automatic Voter Registration, information is only updated when tied to a Rhode Island driver’s license or state ID record. This means that the data required by HAVA for first-time registrants, is automatically included in the voter’s registration.”
See the full report below:
