Feds seek to drop lawsuit over Mo. voter rolls

Federal lawyers are seeking to dismiss a 2005 lawsuit that accuses the Missouri secretary of state's office of mishandling voter rolls.

The U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit contended that Missouri election officials did not follow a federal law that requires reasonable efforts be made to remove ineligible people from the rolls. The suit contends that because that did not happen, people who have moved or died might still be eligible to vote.

Federal lawyers wrote that the evidence currently in hand is dated and might not reflect the current situation in Missouri.

In 2007, the case became embroiled in the controversy over the firing of U.S. …