Ohio is Purging Infrequent Voters From the Rolls, Mostly From Democrat-Leaning Districts

[ehrnst]

Last edited Mon Aug 1, 2016, 10:49 AM - Edit history (1)

According to a Reuters investigation, in Ohio’s three biggest counties, voters have been taken off the rolls in neighborhoods that trend Democratic at roughly twice the rate as in Republican-leaning neighborhoods. At least 144,000 voters have lost their registration in those three counties alone, Reuters reports.

Voters who have lost their registration must re-register at least 30 days prior to election day on November 8.

http://time.com/4354986/ohio-is-purging-infrequent-voters-from-the-rolls-mostly-from-democrat-supporting-districts/

From June 2, but couldn't find it posted anywhere here.

[tonyt53]

1. This is the very reason the Clinton campaign has targeted OH for voter registration drives.

The plan is to make sure those voters are still registered and to get 3 million more voters registered in the state.

[Cha]

2. Link please.. thank you, ehrnst~

[ehrnst]

8. done! Thanks for the heads up.

[Cha]

10. No problem~

[randr]

3. The obvious reaction to voter suppression

MAKE SURE YOU ARE REGISTERED...
Vigilance is required to participate. Volunteer to assist registration in poorer districts.

[Qutzupalotl]

4. Check to see if you're registered to vote at this link:

http://www.canivote.org

[Buckeye_Democrat]

12. Nice link!

Thanks.

[glennward]

5. Hillary campaign and ALL Democrats should be mailing reminders about registering

if they have not voted in the past ____ elections. The time frame should be clearly spelled out and what is at stake should be too. It's going to come down to the ground game and warding off the shenanigans of the GOP in Ohio.

Forget some of the ads and spend the money on voters.

[NurseJackie]

6. This is *actual* voter suppression.

[MineralMan]

7. Most states have laws requiring names to be removed from the

voter registration rolls if a person did not vote in the most recent past presidential election. That's standard in most states. Why? Because people move, die, or otherwise stop being voters in a particular location. Most people don't realize that registering in a new jurisdiction doesn't remove their registration in their former jurisdiction.

Although it might seem to be voter suppression to people who don't understand that the law requires removing such names, it's simply a way to clear ineligible voters from the rolls of registered voters in an area. Typically, that is done by county or parish voter registration officials every four years.

A majority of the names removed in such cases no longer live at the address they did when they registered to vote, so they are no longer eligible to vote in that precinct or districts. It's a necessary action to take, designed to maintain accurate voter registration records.

Should those laws be changed? I think they should, but I remember learning about that law in California when I first registered to vote. As I have moved around the country, I have registered to vote in new places as soon as I moved there. Have I informed my former jurisdiction that I moved? Nope. In that, I am just like most people.

Now, if voter's names are being removed only for one party, then that is obviously vote suppression, but if all voters who meet that state's criteria for removal are removed, it is not.

Bottom line: Check your voter registration and encourage others to do the same. When I am canvassing in my own precinct, I carry a tablet computer that is logged into the state's voter registration checking site. I ask people if they'd like me to see if they are registered to vote. If they say yes, I check it for them on the spot. If they are not registered, I have the forms with me so they can register.

Check the laws in your own state. Find out what they are. But, make sure your registration is current before each election you will vote in. It's easy to do.

[ehrnst]

9. From the article:

"According to Reuters, federal law prohibits states from striking registered voters from the rolls for inactivity but also requires states to keep voter lists up to date, something typically done to cleanse the voter rolls of the names of people who have died or left the state."

[Buckeye_Democrat]

11. Ugh!

Ohio has quite a few Republicans in positions of power.

[JRLeft]

13. We knew Jon Husted was going to do this. This is what he does.

He's an open cheater.

[RBInMaine]

14. Tell EVERYONE to check your registration status and MAKE SURE YOU ARE REGISTERED.

[brooklynite]

15. Nina Turner, former Sec State candidate could be fighting for voting rights in OH...

...but I guess she'll be busy.

[mrsv]

16. It's Happening

When my husband and I voted in this year's primary...our polling place had changed....no problem....when we arrived to vote we were told we would have to vote provisional ballot because we did not respond to a post card supposedly sent to us listing our address as a P.O. box. What post card?!! We had a post office box prior to 1989 before we got married! I told the precinct person we would not be voting a provisional ballot and that we would go to the Board of Elections to get this straightened out. Long story short...I have lived in my house for 22 years...I have voted in every election...including primaries and faced with voting provisionally pissed me off. A quick call to the board by precinct worker and we voted. So please check because they are out to steal this election by any means possible...be vigilant!

[Hortensis]

18. Good for you. Are you in a red or purple state?

In 2014 we knew people in 2 states whose voting status had somehow been invalidated. One still didn't have it straightened out when election day rolled around months later.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

17. I vote absentee in Ohio

We're no longer required to provide a "reason" for an absentee (mail) ballot..

It also gives me time to look up the party affiliations of judges and the like, which are often not indicated on the ballots.

[progressoid]

19. Grrrr...