Newly elected Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose says he won’t stop the state’s voter purges, but he wants to reduce dramatically the number of inactive voters removed going forward. Ohio’s method of removing inactive voters from the rolls led to a U.S. Supreme Court fight between ballot access advocates and the state. In the end, the top court upheld Ohio’s voter purge for those who haven’t voted or updated their residency in six years. LaRose, who was sworn in Saturday, told The Enquirer that Ohio’s current process is less than ideal and “kind of antiquated.” But he won’t halt the removal of voters initiated by former Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted earlier this month.
That means about 275,000 people who were sent last-chance notices by Husted, now the state’s lieutenant governor, will be removed from the voter rolls if they do not update their registration. Ohioans can register to vote online or fill out paperwork at county boards of elections.
“The process that was put in place by the previous secretary was the process he was putting in place,” LaRose said. “My focus is on the going forward.”
Full Article: Ohio’s new elections chief wants to cut back on voter purge.