Cancelling Your Voter Registration ≠ Removal from the Jury Rolls
Note: To find out how to cancel in your State, take a look at the PDF I put together. It contains the process of cancellation for 39 states.
By: Shane Radliff
June 9th, 2016
Cancelling your voter registration (CYVR) is a method of direct action; more specifically, it is a legal remedy that can be used to implement strategic withdrawal. Rather than just being a non-voter or an ex-voter, cancellation essentially gives the middle finger to the State and tells them that you are not voluntarily participating in this corrupt cycle of subjugation.
Jury nullification, on the other hand, is a method of reformism, regardless of the stated objective of the practitioner. Some will say, “I’m only trying to save a few people from jail and send them home to their families.” Others take it to its intended extent in hopes that it will nullify unjust laws, such as marijuana possession. Though, in both of these circumstances, the advocate/practitioner must await the State’s demand to “serve” by receiving a jury summons, and subsequently selected during voir dire.
I have my own thoughts and concerns regarding its efficacy, although I have kept it mostly under wraps, except for private conversations. If people want to risk jury tampering charges by spreading the “good word”, via pamphleteering outside a courthouse (which could include jail time), that is their prerogative; if people want to sit around and wait for the State to call them up to “serve” on a jury, so be it. I think other efforts in finding freedom in our own lives, right now, could be more fruitful in both, the short and long runs.
The 2016 Presidential Election has drawn more attention to the CYVR page on the Liberty Under Attack website, and rightfully so when considering the onslaught of anarchist politicians. That said, one particular concern continues to come up over and over again, mainly by libertarians/anarchists: “If I cancel my voter registration, I can’t be selected for jury duty.”
That is a fallacious statement. In federal courts, voter registrations are used, first and foremost, for jury selection, though occasionally they pull from drivers’ lists, according to the federal judiciary. Additionally, some lower level courts randomly draw from other databases, such as driver’s licenses. So, if you cancel your voter registration, there’s still a chance you could get called up for jury duty, depending on your respective State laws. For example, here in Illinois, “Once a year, the clerk in your county prepares a list of the names of potential jurors from a combined listing of registered voters and driver’s license records.”
Additionally, I heard a new response today which was quite interesting. This individual stated that, “If I keep my voter registration, I think I’ll have a higher likelihood of being selected to serve on a jury.” Of course, that claim is unprovable and unfalsifiable, but it maintains an appearance of a potential solution for those who focus on jury nullification.
If that is the case, then libertarians/anarchists should subscribe to every single slave card and government program, so that they can be coerced into “serving” more often. Obviously, I’m being a bit facetious, but still, why not? You can never have enough “freedom permits.”
Summarily, this should have quelled any concerns regarding how cancelling your voter registration affects your receiving of a jury summons. That cannot be used as an excuse anymore, and I hope to see more folks from every tax farm cancel their voter registration.
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