Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Chesterfield and Manassas Election Officials

for Concealing Non-Citizen Voting Records

Other County Records Show Over 1000 Aliens Improperly on Voter Rolls
(Indianapolis, IN) June 27. The Public Interest Legal Foundation has filed two separate federal
lawsuits against local Virginia election officials for refusing to disclose election records showing
foreigners improperly registered to vote in Virginia. Separate cases were filed against Larry
Haake, the register in Chesterfield County, and Susan Reed, the registrar in the City of
Manassas.
In August 2016, the Public Interest Legal Foundation asked to publically inspect and duplicate
election records related to foreigners who registered to vote in Chesterfield County and
Manassas. Similar requests were made to other counties throughout the Commonwealth, and
other local election registrars complied with the request and provided the records to the Public
Interest Legal Foundation. Among those counties who complied were Stafford, Prince William,
Loudon and the City of Falls Church. Chesterfield and Manassas refused to do so, and these
lawsuits followed.
Under Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act (or Motor Voter), the public has the right
to physically inspect election records related to maintaining accurate voter rolls. If election
officials do not provide requested records, they may be sued in federal court and may be liable to
pay attorneys fees under the statute for failing to provide the records. This is the third case the
Foundation has filed seeking election records in Virginia.
Previous data compiled by the Foundation showed that over 1,000 registrants were removed
from voter rolls for citizenship problems in the eight counties who complied with the
Foundations request. None of the non-citizens removals appear to have been referred to law
enforcement officials even though it is a felony when an foreigner registers to vote in Virginia.
Transparency in the election process is essential, said J. Christian Adams, President and
General Counsel of the Public Interest Legal Foundation. Federal law requires election records
to be available to the public. Concealing the extent of non-citizen voting registration harms the
integrity of the election process.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public interest law firm dedicated to election
integrity. PILF exists to assist states and others to aid the cause of election integrity and fight
against lawlessness in American elections. William Davis at Foley and Lardner is serving a local
counsel for the plaintiffs.
Contact: media@publicinterestlegal.org.
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