Who will clean up America's voter rolls?

With hundreds more states and counties facing the prospect of cleaning up their voter rolls in the wake of the Husted decision, a lot more public angst over finally having to comply with the law is likely.

But Popper says the federal government and not a private group should be leading the enforcement work – namely “the 30 lawyers at the United States Department of Justice voting section where I used to work.”

“I like to joke with people that [the NVRA is] one of the few instances of a federal agency undercutting deliberately the statute that gives it authority and power,” Popper says. “You don’t find the Post Office undercutting the statute that, you know, authorizes the existence of the Post Office – but you find this with the Department of Justice.”