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By DAN LOWREY
Capital New* Service
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Williams ruled last month that Virginia has until March 6 to comply with the national motor-voter law.
The National Voter Registration Act, known as “motor-voter,” allows eligible voters to register at motor vehicle offices as well as social services departments.
The General Assembly passed legislation this year that would have enabled motor-voter to take effect in January 1996, but Gov. George Allen vetoed the bill and filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice. He contended that the act was an unfunded federal mandate that would divert state workers from their regular jobs.
William Mark Dunn, assistant attorney general of Virginia, argued that to comply with the constitution, the act “cannot commander or conscript state employees to cany out the federal law.”
Still, Judge Williams ruled the law was constitutional, but he left open the question of refunding costs incurred by the state for its implementation A hearing on this issue is expected later this year.
It is estimated that statewide motor-voter implementation could cost several million dollars but would add nearly 1 million people to the state’s votei*registration rolls.
Following the court’s decision, Attorney General James S. Gilmore III and Gov. Allen issued statements indicating they would comply with the decision and would push for changes necessary to implement the law in January.
“The attorney general and I have determined that further legal challenges should not be mounted,” Gov. Allen said...In my view, the courts
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