Judge Claims Purged Voters Should Be Reinstated

A judge says more thousands of voters whose names were taken off the state's voter rolls should be reinstated, but barred from voting for two federal election cycles.

Franklin County District Judge Thomas D. Wingate said the state's new program that checks to make sure nonresidents don't vote in state elections is the right way to go. But Wingate said election officials should give people more notice that they've been removed and allowed them more time to respond.

Secretary of State Trey Grayson announced last April that the state elections board purged more than eight-thousand voters because records indicated they had registered to vote in South Carolina or Tennessee.

Grayson said the move was aimed at preventing nonresidents from voting in the May primary election.