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Ohio's Questionable Voter Purge = approach critics say disparately affects minorities.
Ohio's Questionable Voter Purge
The Buckeye State is kicking residents who haven’t cast a ballot since 2008 off its rolls—a “use-it-or-lose-it” approach critics say disparately affects minorities.
It’s a nightmare scenario: You go to the polls on Election Day, in a closely fought election. You think that one of the two major-party candidates is dangerous and unfit for the presidency. But you have a rare privilege—you live in Ohio, often a decisive swing state. So you head to the polls on November 8, sign in… and discover that you’re no longer a registered voter.
Thousands of Buckeye State voters might experience this scenario, voter advocates warn. As Reuters points out in a report Thursday, Ohio is purging tens of thousands of voters from its rolls who haven’t voted since the 2008 election. Some of those people have likely died, or moved and registered elsewhere, or simply don’t care. But it’s also an understandably concerning move, amounting to a “use-it-or-lose-it” approach to a fundamental right of American citizens.
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted’s answer doesn’t assuage that worry. “If this is really important thing to you in your life, voting, you probably would have done so within a six-year period,” he said. Mathematically, however, does that hold up? Voting is far higher in presidential years than in midterm elections, and it’s not implausible that a voter might sit out a single cycle. In fact, national turnout and Ohio turnout were both lower in 2012 than in 2008.
The other unsettling thing about Ohio’s purge is less about spirit and more about hard numbers, partisanship, and race. Reuters explains: ...................
The Buckeye State is kicking residents who haven’t cast a ballot since 2008 off its rolls—a “use-it-or-lose-it” approach critics say disparately affects minorities.
It’s a nightmare scenario: You go to the polls on Election Day, in a closely fought election. You think that one of the two major-party candidates is dangerous and unfit for the presidency. But you have a rare privilege—you live in Ohio, often a decisive swing state. So you head to the polls on November 8, sign in… and discover that you’re no longer a registered voter.
Thousands of Buckeye State voters might experience this scenario, voter advocates warn. As Reuters points out in a report Thursday, Ohio is purging tens of thousands of voters from its rolls who haven’t voted since the 2008 election. Some of those people have likely died, or moved and registered elsewhere, or simply don’t care. But it’s also an understandably concerning move, amounting to a “use-it-or-lose-it” approach to a fundamental right of American citizens.
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted’s answer doesn’t assuage that worry. “If this is really important thing to you in your life, voting, you probably would have done so within a six-year period,” he said. Mathematically, however, does that hold up? Voting is far higher in presidential years than in midterm elections, and it’s not implausible that a voter might sit out a single cycle. In fact, national turnout and Ohio turnout were both lower in 2012 than in 2008.
The other unsettling thing about Ohio’s purge is less about spirit and more about hard numbers, partisanship, and race. Reuters explains: ...................
