In 2005, there was a tremendous effort to register people to vote. A number of organizations, among them Project Vote and ACORN, targeted this area. Norfolk experienced a high rejection rate – 55.3% – of the voter registration applications. At the time, the surrounding cities experienced a much lower rejection rate.
This led to a request by Project Vote to examine the applications to see what was creating the problems. The Norfolk registrar refused, and the dispute was taken up by the State Board of Elections. That body sided with the registrar. An attorney for Project Vote, Andrew Rivera, filed suit to see the applications.
Fast foward eighteen months. The suit to see all of the applications has wound its way thru the courts. Yesterday, Rivera was notified that the State Supreme Court will hear the case.
I have no idea how this will come out. In the meantime, the General Assembly has already passed a law that would limit access to voter registration applications to only the applicant and the registrar. Seems to me this is something of a moot point.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 