JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REACHES VOTING SETTLEMENT WITH ST. LOUIS ELECTION BOARD RESOLVING PROBLEMS DURING
NOVEMBER 2000 ELECTION

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Justice Department announced today it has reached an agreement with the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners and the city of St. Louis concerning violations of the National Voter Registration Act arising during the 2000 election.

The consent decree, filed along with a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, resolves problems arising from the Board's placement of eligible voters on inactive status without maintaining procedures sufficient to allow those voters to restore their active status and vote on election day without undue delay.

"Today's agreement underscores the Justice Department's commitment to ensure that eligible voters are able to cast their ballots on election day without undue administrative burdens or delays," said Ralph F. Boyd, Jr., Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "We are pleased with the close cooperation we have received from the city of St. Louis and the Board of Elections, and that they have taken voluntary steps to ensure that federal law is followed."

The Justice Department's complaint against the St. Louis Board of Elections alleges violations of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act, or the "Motor Voter Act," which allows, among other things, individuals to register to vote at state departments of motor vehicles. The suit includes allegations that the Board of Elections improperly removed voters from the registration rolls by placing voters on inactive status without notice and then failing to maintain procedures on election day adequate to ensure that those voters could reactivate their registration status and vote without undue delay.

The Justice Department's proposed consent decree requires the Board of Elections to, among other things:

•ensure that voters who were placed on inactive status from 1994 through 2001 will not be removed from the voter rolls for failure to vote until after the November 2004 elections;

•make efforts to notify voters that their names may be on the inactive rolls and to encourage them to reactivate their voter status before election day; and

•provide additional resources at precincts where inactive voters constitute more than 30 percent of all voters.

The consent decree also requires the Board to train its poll workers in the new election-day procedures and to allow Department of Justice personnel to monitor future elections in the city.

More information about the National Voter Registration Act and other federal voting laws is available on the Justice Department Internet site at www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting.

###

02-468