The Ohio ACLU has filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing Ohio's removal of registered voters from the rolls because they choose not to vote is a "powerful tool of voter suppression."
Ohio's system first raises questions when people have failed to vote for two years. It terminates their registration if they don't respond or vote over the next four years.
Ohio ACLU Legal Director Freda Levenson says the state is violating the National Voter Registration Act. She adds that when voters are purged, they aren’t notified until they are turned away at the polls.
“To purge voters like this doesn’t do anything to make elections better or fairer, or to keep voting rolls accurate. In fact, to purge voters for merely not having voted disenfranchises perfectly eligible people and makes the voting rolls less accurate and takes away integrity from elections.”
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, has said the federal case is about “maintaining the integrity of our elections.” He says the state’s process for maintaining voter rolls has been in place for more than two decades and administered the same way by both Republican and Democrat secretaries of state.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case on Nov. 8.
Copyright 2021 WKSU. To see more, visit WKSU. 9(MDA5NTM4MTIyMDE0MTg3NDc2MTVlZjdmNQ001))