The Independent View: Ohio 2019 Voter Roll Purge

Ohio is moving ahead with its Second Purge of their Voter Rolls this year, though Not before the State's New Republican Top Elections Official helps in a Search for People who Haven't Voted in a while.

Still, Democrats say the Purge will wrongly Disenfranchise too many, mainly Poor People, Minorities, and Students.

Last year the Supreme Court Upheld an Ohio Law Requiring the Removal from Voter Rolls of those who have Not Cast a Federal Ballot in at least Six years and Not Responded to "Last Chance" Notices sent by Mail.

In the Absence of a Written Confirmation from a Registrant of a Change of Address Outside the Jurisdiction, Section 8(d) of The National Voter Registration Act Of 1993 (NVRA) sets forth a Process for Removing a Person based on Change of Residence. This process requires sending a Forwardable Notice, in the Form of a Postage-Prepaid and Pre-Addressed Return Card, on which the Person may State their Current Address. The Notice must include the Language required by Section 8(d)(2) of the NVRA.

For example, the notice must advise:

(1) that if the registrant did not change his or her residence, or changed residence but remained in the registrar’s jurisdiction, the registrant should complete and return the card not later than the voter registration deadline for the next election.

(2) that if the card is not returned, affirmation or confirmation of the registrant's address may be required before the registrant is permitted to vote in a federal election during the period beginning on the date of the notice and ending on the day after the date of the second general election for Federal office that occurs after the date of the notice.

(3) that if the registrant does not vote in an election during that period the registrant's name will be removed from the list of eligible voters.

The jurisdiction may designate the registrant as inactive if the registrant fails to return the card by the voter registration deadline for the next election after the notice is sent.

The jurisdiction may remove the registrant from the voter rolls after sending the notice in two circumstances:

First, if the registrant confirms in writing, such as by completing and returning the notice card, that the registrant has changed residence to a place outside the jurisdiction then the registrant can be removed from the list immediately.

Second, if the registrant fails to respond to the notice and fails to vote or to appear to vote in an election beginning on the date the notice is sent and ending on the day after the date of the second federal general election after the notice is sent, then the registrant can be removed from the list after that second federal general election.

About 3% of the State's 8 Million Registered Voters were dropped in January, and on Monday the Elections Boards of all 88 Counties Mailed New Last-Chance Notices to another 3%, or almost 236,000 People, setting a Labor Day Deadline for Updating Voter Information.

Secretary of State, Frank LaRose (R), has Promised to Turn over the Roster of Affected Voters this week to the League of Women Voters and Several Religious Leaders who say they want to Search for Voters and Encourage them to Re-Register. "We want to try to find everyone that we can," he told the Columbus Dispatch, although he Predicted most on the Lists were Duplicate Entries, Dead, or No Longer Living in the State.

LaRose is also Vowing to Press the State Legislature to make Ohio the 19th State with Automatic Voter Registration (AVR), under which All Eligible People are Added to the Voter Rolls whenever they get a Driver's License or otherwise Interact with a state agency. But it seems Unlikely that will happen by Next year, when Ohio's 18 Electoral Votes will be a Prime Target of Presidential Candidates.

Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who was Secretary of State in the 1980s, and Several State Legislators urged a Lenient approach to Culling the Voter Rolls in the Interim. Brown is Pushing Legislation, which stands little chance in the GOP Senate, that would make it Illegal for a State to use "failure to vote or respond to a state notice as reason to target" Voters for Removal from the Rolls.