skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Victory for Election Integrity or Blow to Democracy?

play audio
Play

Tuesday, June 12, 2018   

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday upheld Ohio's voter-purge system, which some say means voters need to be especially vigilant about their registration status.

In a 5-4 decision, justices said Ohio's method of using "failure to vote" as a basis for the removal process does not violate the Federal Voting Rights Act.

Secretary of State Jon Husted called it a victory for election integrity, but the executive director of Common Cause Ohio, Catherine Turcer, contends it's a blow to democracy.

"All of us have the right to vote but that doesn't mean that we have the right for that vote to count," she says. "We need to be proactive as voters. We need to confirm that we're registered to vote because decisions like this can have really unintended consequences."

If someone in Ohio fails to vote in a single federal election, the state sends an address-confirmation notice. Removal is triggered if the voter fails to respond and does not vote for another four years. In its ruling, the Supreme Court said it has no authority to determine if the process is an ideal method of maintaining voter rolls, but only to decide if it violates federal law.

Counsel with the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice Jonathan Brater, says there are many reasons that voters skip elections.

"Maybe they don't like the candidates, maybe they forget to vote, but they're still very much eligible and very much have the right to vote," he says. "So for people in the category, of which there are many, there's now an additional danger that they'll be removed, show up to vote in 2018 or a subsequent election and then find themselves missing from the rolls."

Brater notes that many other protections still are in place, and says other states should not interpret the ruling as a green light to initiate aggressive purges of the rolls.

"You can't purge people based on the fact that they changed residence without first sending them a notice and then waiting two federal elections before removing them," he adds. "You can't do large, systemic voter purges within 90 days of a federal election; and you have to conduct your purges in a way that is uniform, non-discriminatory and complies with the Voting Rights Act."

Turcer's advice for Ohioans is to confirm their registration at MyOhiovote, and then to always check the paper when casting a ballot.

"If, in fact, you are voting on a touch-screen machine, make sure that you're actually also verifying that the paper actually matches your vote," she stresses. "You can find that a little bit lower than where you're voting."

This collaboration is funded in part by Media in the Public Interest and the George Gund Foundation.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021