No voter suppression here

Canton Repository: Repeating something that isn’t true more loudly and more often doesn’t make it any less untrue.

Once again, opponents of the mandated maintenance of Ohio’s voter rolls are attempting to equate this required action with voter suppression.

It is no such thing. And saying otherwise – crying “wolf” – only makes it less likely people will pay attention when real voter suppression, which has been documented in other states, does occur.

On Monday, officials with county boards of elections mailed letters to more than 235,000 Ohioans at risk of being removed from the state’s voter registration database. In Stark County, that number was 8,773, to be precise.

Address confirmation

In those letters, which include a postage-paid reply envelope, individuals are asked to confirm their address. Mind you, these are Stark County residents (most likely former residents no longer at that location) who have done none of the following in not one or two years, but nearly eight years: vote in an election, sign a political petition or update registration information with the Stark County Board of Elections.

After eight years with no elections activity, it’s a pretty safe bet the person no longer lives at the address on file. Some have moved; others have passed away.

And, yes, a few do still live at the address on file and simply have chosen not to participate in an election – as is their right. But to retain that right, they also must take responsibility – by informing the state via their home county’s elections board through the confirming process.

Does this sound like a state trying to suppress its voter turnout?

Hardly.