UPDATE: Justice Department Supports Judicial Watch in Illinois Voter Roll Clean Up Lawsuit!

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in a Judicial Watch lawsuit that that seeks to force the clean-up of Illinois’ election rolls as federal law requires (Judicial Watch, Inc., et al. v. Illinois State Board of Elections, et al. (No. 1:24-cv-01867)). U.S. District Court Judge Sara L. Ellis set a hearing in the case for next week.

The Justice Department filing notes, “This case presents important questions regarding enforcement of the National Voter Registration Act.” In a press release announcing the Statement of Interest, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said:

It is critical to remove ineligible voters from the registration rolls so that elections are conducted fairly, accurately, and without fraud. Under the NVRA [National Voter Registration Act], states have the responsibility to conduct a robust program of list maintenance. The Department of Justice will vigorously enforce those requirements to ensure compliance.

The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) requires states to “conduct a general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove” from the official voter rolls “the names of ineligible voters” who have died or changed residence. The law requires registrations to be cancelled when voters fail to respond to address confirmation notices and then fail to vote in the next two general federal elections. In 2018, the Supreme Court confirmed that such removals are mandatory.

Judicial Watch’s lawsuit details that 23 Illinois counties, with a combined registration list of 980,089 voters, reported removing a combined total of only 100 registrations in the last two-year reporting period under a crucial provision of the NVRA. This is an “absurdly small” number, and there “is no possible way these counties can be conducting a general program that makes reasonable effort to cancel registrations of voters who have become ineligible because of a change of residence while removing so few registrations.”

In April 2025, Judicial Watch announced that its analyses and use of voter registration lists have led to lawsuits and legal actions under the National Voter Registration Act that have resulted in the removal of five million names from voter rolls in nearly a dozen states and localities over the last several years.

“Judicial Watch’s lawsuit demonstrates Illinois voter rolls are a mess and the Justice Department is right to be concerned about the state’s failures to keep them clean,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

In June 2025, the Justice Department filed a statement of interest in Judicial Watch’s lawsuit to compel Oregon to clean its voter rolls.

Judicial Watch is a national leader in voting integrity and voting rights.

Robert Popper, a Judicial Watch senior attorney, leads its election law program. Popper was previously in the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, where he managed voting rights investigations, litigations, consent decrees, and settlements in dozens of states.

In July 2024, Judicial Watch asked a federal court to reject the State of Illinois’ motion to dismiss Judicial Watch’s lawsuit to compel the state to clean up its voter rolls. The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, on behalf of Judicial Watch, the nonprofit organizations Illinois Family Action and Breakthrough Ideas, and Carol J. Davis, a lawfully registered Illinois voter (Judicial Watch, Inc. et al v. The Illinois State Board of Elections et al. (No. 1:24-cv-01867)).

In May 2024, Judicial Watch sued California to clean up its voter rolls. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Judicial Watch and the Libertarian Party of California, similarly asks the court to compel California to make “a reasonable effort” to remove ineligible registrants from the rolls as required by federal law (Judicial Watch Inc. and the Libertarian Party of CA v. Shirley Weber et al. (No. 2:24-cv-03750)).

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