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Dem lawmaker pushes bill to stop voter rolls purge
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
A Democratic state lawmaker wants Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted to stop the removal of Ohioans from voter rolls for moving within the state or not casting ballots in recent elections.
Rep. Kathleen Clyde, D-Kent, said earlier directives issued by Husted have resulted in eligible voters losing their ability to cast ballots. House Bill 402 would reverse that, she said.
“Ohio’s purging people who move instead of just updating their address as the National Voter Registration Act requires,” Clyde said during a Wednesday morning news conference at the Statehouse. “And Ohio is purging people simply for not voting, which is a direct violation of the NVRA. Why are we purging people from the rolls who are still eligible to vote?”
Husted’s office countered Clyde’s assertions, saying the secretary “brought the state into compliance with the National Voter Rights Act for the first time.”
Josh Eck, Husted’s spokesman, added in a statement, “By effectively communicating with the BMV [Bureau of Motor Vehicles] and the National Change of Address system, we are able to send helpful reminders to voters so they can keep their records current. Almost 61,000 Ohioans updated their voter records in 2015 thanks to our work, which prevented them from having to cast provisional ballots. The representative’s legislation would block us from providing this very helpful service and thus cause voter confusion and a spike in provisional ballots.”
Clyde said voters could still be removed from Ohio’s rolls if they die, move out of state or other reasons. But those who opt not to cast ballots in recent elections or move within the state would remain registered.
Clyde said some 2 million voters have had their registrations purged in Ohio over the last five years. She said the removals have disproportionately affected minority voters.