ACRU Lawsuit: Philadelphia's Felonious Franchise

ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Philadelphia election officials refuse to clean up their voter registration records despite an American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) lawsuit that has revealed the listing of ineligible voters such as convicted felons and non-citizens.

The city's recalcitrance came to light at an April 27 hearing at the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.  As ACRU attorneys presented evidence that the city was violating the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), both of which require removal of ineligible voters, city lawyers replied that they were legally compelled by state law to remove only deceased people and those who move away.  They acknowledged that convicted felons are not eligible to vote, but said they could stay registered.

This leaves on the rolls people like Kermit Gosnell, the late-term abortionist who was convicted of first-degree murder for killing fully-developed babies born alive at his abortion clinic.  Also still registered is Philadelphia's former 11-term Democratic Congressman Chaka Fattah, who was convicted of racketeering and in January began serving 10 years in prison.  Fattah's son, Chaka "Chip" Jr., who got five years in prison in February for bank and tax fraud, also remains on Philadelphia's voting rolls.

Although city officials maintain that Pennsylvania law limits felons' voting rights based on their incarceration, a city attorney admitted that if someone were to "put a polling place in the prison," felons on the rolls would be permitted to vote.

The city's absurdly shifting stances included saying that convicted felons on furlough could vote if "incarceration" was the only disqualifier, not their status as convicted criminals.  One hearing participant joked about an "Election Day Furlough" when "they could all go out and vote" and then return to prison.

"This is no joking matter," said Public Interest Legal Foundation President J. Christian Adams, who filed the suit on ACRU's behalf and an ACRU brief in the case.

"Philadelphia's voting rolls are seriously corrupt, and they not only won't do anything to fix the situation, they think it's actually funny. This is a disgrace and a recipe for vote fraud."

For more, see Criminals Who Appear to Be Voters.

For interviews contact Robert Knight at [email protected].

SOURCE ACRU

Related Links

http://www.theacru.org