Attorney David Shestokas Calls for DOJ to Enforce Mandatory NVRA Voter Roll Maintenance as Law Requires

CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES, February 24, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In 2017, Judicial Watch sued Los Angeles County (Case 2:17-cv-08948, Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, LLP cbell@bmhlaw.com) for failure to follow the National Voter Registration Act’s (NVRA) required voter roll maintenance. Los Angeles County was ordered to remove 1,207,613 ineligible voters from its rolls as of February 2023.

Fast forward to the November 2024 election: “Deep Blue” LA suddenly elected a Republican prosecutor. The new Los Angeles County DA, Nathan Hochman, was the 2022 Republican California Attorney General candidate. In 2024 Republican Hochman defeated incumbent Democrat, George Gascon.

Proven path to a more secure vote

In 2020, Gascon beat two term incumbent, Jackie Lacey with 2,002,865 votes. By 2024, 1.2 million ineligible voters were removed. In the November 2024 election Democrat Gascon received 1.1 million fewer votes than four years earlier. He received 891,264 votes and Republican Hochman won with 1,421,207.

Gascon’s vote loss from 2020 to 2024 mirrors the consequence of the Judicial Watch lawsuit. 1,207,613 ineligible voters were removed. The progressive prosecutor received 1,111,601 fewer votes. It’s hard not to see the connection.

The 1993 NVRA, known as ‘motor voter”, requires state driver license facilities, military recruitment centers and state benefit offices to register voters. County clerks traditionally managed registrations.

In addition, Congress required state election authorities to maintain clean voter rolls, including immediate removal of certain registrations: deaths, incapacity judgments, written voter requests and where applicable, felony convictions. NVRA also requires a detailed process to remove non-voters who do not respond to inquiries from election authorities.

NVRA provisions allow private enforcement of the law. Private lawsuits by Judicial Watch, political parties and others, have resulted in the removal of more than four million ineligible voters. United Sovereign Americans, is currently pursuing court actions against nine states. I personally filed an NVRA action for the Illinois Conservative Union in 2020.

These successes and current lawsuits have occurred despite the many prerequisites and legal hurdles in the NVRA for private enforcement to take place. For private parties, cleaning voter rolls under the NVRA is cumbersome, time consuming and expensive. The Los Angeles County result required over five years of litigation.

US AG has the authority, Supreme Court acknowledges the problem

Unlike a private party, the US Attorney General has authority to enforce the NVRA without legal obstacles. The US AG also has authority to pursue charges for NVRA violations. The Justice Department website, lists 34 NVRA lawsuits or settlements since 1993, but only four involved failure to maintain voter rolls.

The US Supreme Court acknowledges: “It has been estimated that 24 million voter registrations in the United States—about one in eight—are either invalid or significantly inaccurate.... And about 2.75 million people are said to be registered to vote in more than one State.” HUSTED v. A. PHILIP RANDOLPH INSTITUTE 138 S. Ct. 1833, 201 L. Ed. 2d 141 (2018)

Justice Alito’s Husted opinion cited 24 million registration problems. United Sovereign Americans has completed detailed analysis of 21 states voter rolls and voting histories from the 2022 election. That analysis discovered 29 million apparently ineligible registrations casting 10 million votes.

Centralized mail in ballot processing controlled by a few people, provides the unscrupulous an opportunity to take advantage of inaccurate rolls, defeating the consent of the governed.

Shestokas explains, "In 2016, the Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA) deployed me to Broward County, FL monitoring the Trump and Rubio elections. I discovered tens of thousands of mail in ballots illegally opened in a locked room without the required public observation. Ultimately, the illegal process was suspended and a judge was stationed there to insure ballot processing compliance."

"During the 2020 presidential election, RNLA sent me to Allegheny County, PA. I organized 70 observers for the mail in processing facility. We were corralled into a small space in a 40,000 square foot warehouse and unable to conduct meaningful observation. We did note ballot envelopes were opened before arrival. Additionally, I and three other lawyers, based upon whistleblower information, found vacant and condemned apartment buildings from which 'registered voters' 'sent in' mail in ballots."

"In 2024 I worked with Bob Fioretti, Republican candidate for Cook County State’s Attorney. During early voting, I spent three days at the county processing facility. Hundreds of thousands of ballots were processed without effective oversight. I was the only outside person observing, besides hypothetical 'Republican' election judges," says Shestokas.

U.S. Attorneys must enforce NVRA, only the Justice Department can address

Jerry Stocks, an Illinois attorney experienced in election law, including five RNLA deployments, agrees it’s a scandal. Stocks contends U.S. Attorneys must enforce the NVRA as part of restoring confidence in our elections.

Since January 20th, 2025, President Trump and his team have been busy: Panama, Greenland, USAID, DOGE, Rubio, Hegseth, Bondi, Patel, RFK Jr., Musk, female sports, DEI, Gaza, J6 pardons, Canada, Mexico, ICE, Fort Knox, border security, IRS, paper straws, dishwashers and more. To secure the benefits of President Trump’s victory and team, long term, the security of elections is critical.

The election of a Republican in Los Angeles County demonstrates clean voter rolls make a difference in electoral outcomes. Private citizens have limited resources to enforce NVRA, challenging the states’ taxpayer funded lawyers. United Sovereign America data shows it’s a national issue and only the Justice Department has the resources to address it.

Urgency for Illinois and beyond

In many states, the election process for 2026 begins soon, and voter registrations impact that process throughout. Illinois candidate petitions to appear on the 2026 ballot begin circulation in September. Registered voters must sign such petitions in Illinois and across the country. The ramifications are clear: Clean voter rolls impact who gets on the ballot.

Many proposals promise to improve election integrity: single day voting, only paper ballots, hand counts, etc. All require changes in current law. The requirement to clean our voter rolls IS THE LAW. It must be enforced.

David Shestokas
Shestokas on the Constitution
+1 312-451-5550
david@shestokas.com
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