A federal judge has ruled that Secretary of State Jon Husted can continue to remove voters from Ohio’s rolls.
The Republican Secretary of State has removed about a million people from the rolls since 2011. The court says he can continue the practice, which Husted says follows state and federal law and removes dead, inactive and duplicate voters.
“It is important for us to maintain the voter rolls to make sure elections run smoothly. If you do that, that means more people get to vote where they really live, and they won’t be casting provisional ballots.”
But Democratic State Rep. Kathleen Clyde worries legitimate voters are unknowingly being kicked off the rolls.
“They don’t get any notice that they’ve been purged before it happens. So a lot of people think they are fine. In fact, they show up to vote and end up voting a provisional ballot that ends up being rejected.”
Clyde says the group that filed this lawsuit plans to appeal. Husted is appealing two other court rulings on voting, one re-establishing the week when voters can register and cast ballots at the same time. The other says boards of elections cannot throw out absentee and provisional ballots for minor technical mistakes.
