By Mandi Rice, St. Louis Public Radio
ST. LOUIS – A voter's rights group is raising questions that could delay a recount in Missouri's 24th Senate district. The Advancement Project has asked the St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners to investigate why many Washington University students were removed from the voter lists before last week's election.
Students who had voted as recently as two years ago were being turned away from the polling site on campus, according to Denise Lieberman, an attorney with the Advancement Project.
"This raises concerns to us that perhaps these students may have been illegally purged from the voting rolls," Lieberman said. "These students were not offered provisional ballots, and at least according to the report of one poll supervisor she was instructed not to give these students provisional ballots."
The Advancement Project is asking the election board to investigate the issue before it certifies the final vote count in the area's tight state Senate race. The board is completing a recount after election night tallies showed Republican John T. Lamping leading Democrat Barbara Fraser by fewer than 200 votes.
The Board of Election Commissioners was closed Thursday for Veteran's Day and was not available for comment.