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.
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Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has emerged from a long court case with another win.
After nine years and multiple delays, prosecutors are going to drop securities fraud charges against the embattled official. As part of the deal, Paxton must perform 100 hours of community service, pay almost $300,000 in restitution and take advanced legal education courses.
Dan Cogdell, attorney for Ken Paxton, said they welcomed the deal.
"It is not a plea bargain, he didn't plead," Cogdell emphasized. "There is no admission of guilt, there will never be an admission of guilt, because he's not guilty."
In 2015, Paxton was accused of persuading investors to buy stock in a tech startup, without disclosing he would be compensated for the deal. He was also accused of steering clients to a friend's investment advising business without registering with the Texas State Securities Board.
The deal is the second recent legal ruling in Paxton's favor. Six months ago, he was acquitted on 16 corruption charges in an impeachment trial in the Texas Senate but he has not been cleared of all accusations against him. Paxton is being sued by four of his former deputies, who say they were fired after making reports to the FBI he was using his office to help a supporter.
Cal Jillson, professor of political science at Southern Methodist University, said the federal investigation will be handled differently.
"They're taking their time turning over all the rocks," Jillson observed. "If they think there has been illegal behavior on the part of the attorney general, that will be a much different process than the political process that we saw in the Texas Senate."
Despite his legal troubles, Paxton has remained a popular politician. He's been reelected two times since he was indicted. Prosecutors in the case said if Paxton does not comply with the terms of the deal, he could still be tried on the original fraud charges.
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The New Hampshire House passed a bill to eliminate any exceptions to the state's voter ID law and requires documented proof of citizenship in order to register.
The bill would eliminate "affidavit voting" for those without ID and give any registered voter the right to challenge a person's voter registration on Election Day.
Rep. Heath Howard, D-Strafford, said challenges would require the lowest burden of legal proof and could prevent eligible voters from casting a ballot.
"It doesn't seem logical to me or fair that somebody could walk into a polling place, sign an affidavit, and take away somebody else's right to vote," Howard stressed.
Howard explained people would have to visit a state superior court to reclaim their eligibility, an often lengthy and costly process. Supporters said the bill simply aims to solidify existing ID law and prevent voter fraud.
Voting-rights advocates said more than 2,000 Granite Staters without identification used affidavits to vote in the 2022 midterm election and strict voter ID laws disproportionately impact Black, Native, elderly and student voters.
Howard noted not everyone has their birth certificate, and passports or naturalization papers can take months to receive. He emphasized several state investigations of voter fraud in 2020 yielded zero criminal proceedings.
"I think that we've experienced enough of this nonsense when it comes to accusations of voter fraud," Howard asserted. "This is just further perpetuation of that's not necessarily grounded in facts."
Howard added the latest attempt to tighten ID requirements could also be in violation of the Help America Vote Act and National Voter Registration Act. A similar law in Kansas was struck down in 2020 by a federal appeals court as unconstitutional.
Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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More than 86,000 Wyoming voters have been purged from voter rolls, thanks to a state law requiring county clerks to remove people who did not vote in the most recent election, according to a new analysis by AARP Wyoming.
Wyoming is one of 20 states to purge inactive voters, a policy affecting more than one in three Americans.
Tom Lacock, associate state director for AARP Wyoming, said it is important for people who sat out the midterm elections to make sure their registration is up-to-date.
"For folks who have not voted during the 2022 election, it's really the right time now to get to their county clerk's office and register for the 2024 presidential election," Lacock emphasized.
The high number of purged Wyoming voters is largely attributed to higher than normal turnout in the 2020 presidential election followed by near record low turnout in the 2022 general election. Lacock noted county clerks typically send postcards to those being purged, encouraging voters to contact their clerk to remain registered.
Secretary of State Chuck Gray has also proposed changes to the state's voting rules, which could make it much harder for people who do not have a valid driver's license to vote, such as nursing home residents or older voters who have stopped driving. Lacock noted the window for early voting is also closing.
"The other big change this year is we're going to see the number of days that voters can participate in early voting dropped from 45 days to just 28 days," Lacock pointed out.
A new state law also changes how Wyoming voters can vote in primary elections. Lacock explained people must now pick which party's primary they want to vote in no later than May 15.
He encouraged all eligible voters to make sure they can participate in the upcoming November election, which will determine the makeup of half the U.S. Senate, the entire House of Representatives...
"... and the presidential election, all hitting in the same year," Lacock stressed. "This is really an opportunity to make sure that candidates understand what is important to you, and to stand up and be counted."
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