voting
Is it illegal to challenge a voter’s registration based on the knowledge that they are a member of the opposing party?
<p>I watched a documentary about modern voter suppression. It said that in every state except for four it is legal for a civilian to challenge another voter’s registration. Let’s say that <em>for example</em> someone who supports Trump tries to challenge the registration of an acquaintance in the same town because he/she knows based on past interactions (they actually said this) that they are a Democrat. (Of course the situation could be reversed this is just an example.) Is challenging voter registrations for this reason illegal? (I think it should be and probably is but I want to maje sure.)</p>

<p>Party membership is not a valid basis for challenging voter registration.  In most cases, if not all, there is no declaration of party membership beyond the party that a voter specifies when registering to vote.  There is no ideological test or statement whereby a voter is required to prove or assert genuine affinity with a party's platform or any particular part of it.</p>

<p>For example, neither the website of the <a href="https://nydems.org" rel="nofollow noreferrer">New York Democratic Party</a> nor that of the <a href="https://nygop.org" rel="nofollow noreferrer">New York Republican Party</a> has a mechanism for an interested person to join the party, only to volunteer or donate.</p>

<p>It is not illegal for a person to be motivated by irrelevant factors (race, religion, age, employment...). Your motivation is legally irrelevant to the business of challenging a registration. The laws in Washington are <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=29A.08.810" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>. Notice that a <em>legal</em> challenge cannot be baseless and arbitrary, you have to specify a particular reason, such as that the voter has been declared mentally incompetent, or the voter doesn't actually live at the address of record. No state has a law saying that "Democrats may not vote", so party membership is not a valid legal basis for a challenge. If a person is a Democrat and votes in two locations, the latter is the legally-valid basis for the challenge, and the complainant's motivating consideration does not enter into the process.</p>
