Ohioans face voter purge before November election
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Voters in line to vote in Franklin County in November 2022. Photo: Paul Vernon/AFP
Tens of thousands of Columbus-area voters are at risk of seeing their registrations canceled ahead of the upcoming presidential race, but they have about a month to prevent it from happening.
Why it matters: Getting purged from the voting rolls could prevent a citizen from casting important 2024 ballots for president, U.S. Senate or local proposals like the LinkUs sales tax increase.
By the numbers: A total of 158,857 Ohio voters face cancellation this year, Secretary of State Frank LaRose recently announced. That's around 2% of total registered voters.
- The figure includes 23,265 Franklin County voters, county board of elections spokesperson Aaron Sellers tells Axios.
How it works: Voters can use this state search tool to tell if they are on the purge list.
- If so, they can update their voter registration before July 22 to stay active.
- This can be done online at VoteOhio.gov or in person at a county board of elections office.
State of play: Ohio maintains its rolls by periodically removing voters who have died or moved away.
- The state also flags those with four consecutive years of inactivity, which means they haven't cast ballots, signed a candidate petition, applied for an absentee ballot or taken any other "voter-initiated activity."
Caveat: Citizens cannot have their registrations canceled strictly for not voting.
- Instead, counties mail out notices to inactive voters asking them to confirm their address. Not taking action after that point is what gets a voter purged.
- Franklin County sent its letters to voters on May 31.
Between the lines: LaRose contends the process is necessary to ensure the voter rolls have correct addresses for all citizens.
- This dictates where a voter casts their ballots for a variety of local issues and races, which can sometimes be decided by razor-thin margins.
- Voting rights groups have criticized the program, which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018.
It's worth noting: Any Ohioan that does get purged can register to vote again with their correct address.
- The registration deadline to vote in the November general election is Oct. 7.