INDIANAPOLIS (CN) - The Chairman of the Marion County Republican Party claims that "foreclosure is a proper basis for challenges for voter eligibility," the NAACP says, in suing the Marion County Election Board to prevent such Election Day challenges. Indianapolis is the Marion County seat; 30 percent of county residents are minorities.
"The Chairman of the Marion County Republican Party recently stated public that foreclosure is a proper basis for challenges to voter eligibility," the complaint states. "That statement plainly is incorrect. Foreclosure proceedings concern property rights rather than a voter's residency; thus, inclusion on a foreclosure list has no bearing whatsoever on the right to vote under Indiana law. But that incorrect statement, coming from a political party that will deploy individuals to serve as poll watchers throughout the county during the upcoming election, threatens confusion among election officials and, as a result, threatens plaintiffs' voting rights. Plaintiffs therefore seek declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent challenges to their eligibility to vote based upon any foreclosure list in the upcoming election."
Plaintiffs' lead counsel is Nathaniel Lee with Lee, Cossell, Huehn & Love of Indianapolis and Kristen Clarke with the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund of Washington, D.C.
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