High court OKs Ohio voter purge policy

The Supreme Court validated Ohio’s voter roll purge policy on Monday, upholding the state’s right to remove registered voters who haven’t cast ballots in a while. In a 5-4 decision split along ideological lines, the justices ruled the practice does not violate a federal law intended to encourage voter participation. Republicans in Ohio and other states argued the policy would preserve voter registry integrity and prevent fraud. Democrats called it a thinly veiled attempt to keep minority and poor voters from participating in elections. Under Ohio rules, voters who don’t cast ballots for two years face removal from the rolls. They have another four years to participate before the final cut. “Combined with the two years of nonvoting before notice is sent, that makes a total of six years of nonvoting before removal,” Justice Samuel Alito noted in the majority opinion. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the court’s decision contradicted lawmakers’ desire to protect minority voters with the 1993 National Voter Registration Act.