
The court ruled 5 to 4 that Ohio's process does not violate federal law.
Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the majority opinion, said OH officials were not violating federal law with their purge policy (which, according to a federal appeals court, has resulted in 7,500 OH voters being wrongly purged).
Ohio's rules, which use voter inactivity to trigger a process that can lead to their removal from the voter rolls, are similar to those of states like Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Georgia.
It also means that the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, which was created to encourage greater participation in our democracy, has been significantly weakened.
Liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, in a dissent joined by the other liberal justices, said, "Using a registrant's failure to vote is not a reasonable method for identifying voters whose registrations are likely invalid".
"On the one hand dramatically increasing the number of voters on the voter rolls but, on the other, giving states the flexibility they need to manage the issues that arise when you have over-inflated voter rolls", the Trump administration lawyer Solicitor General Noel Francisco said in a court brief. "This is a voter suppression campaign run out of the White House by President Trump, who has actively worked to undermine faith in American democracy". Republicans have argued that they are trying to promote ballot integrity and prevent voter fraud.
Failure to cast a ballot for two years triggers Ohio's removal process. Rather, it "removes registrants only when they have failed to vote and have failed to respond to a change-of-residence notice".
In other words, a voter doesn't even get on the list of people subject to a purge unless they fail to vote for two consecutive years.
Husted concerns a process OH uses to identify voters who may have changed addresses, and to purge them from the voter rolls.
France, Germany slam Trump's G7 statement U-turn
Leaders have struggled to find ways of getting through to Trump and persuading him to budge from his pre-established positions. The annual G-7 summit appeared to have weathered tensions over President Donald Trump's threats of a trade war.
The state said the policy was needed to keep voting rolls current, removing people who have moved away or died.
OH has sent more than 3 million notices of address confirmation since 2011, when Husted became Secretary of State.
The Ohio program follows this to the letter.In it, she said that friend-of-the-court briefs in the case had shown how the OH system "has disproportionately affected minority, low-income, disabled, and veteran voters".
Civil rights groups said the court should be focused on making it easier for people to vote, not allowing states to put up roadblocks to casting ballots.
"The Court errs in ignoring this history and distorting the statutory text ... ultimately sanctioning the very purging that Congress expressly sought to protect against", she added.
In September 2016, a federal appeals court ruled against OH, saying that 7,515 ballots that had been struck could be cast in the that fall's election.
Republican President Donald Trump's administration backed OH, reversing the stance taken by Democratic former President Barack Obama's administration against the policy, and welcomed the ruling.
The case was sparked when OH resident and Navy veteran Larry Harmon went to go vote in 2015, but found he had been purged from the rolls.
Related News:
-
Korea Make Final Preparations for Trump-Kim Summit
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said United States and North Korean officials would hold working-level talks on Monday. Otherwise, the relationship between the two countries could quickly become fraught with frustration and misunderstandings.Winning Lotto Ticket Sold in Halton
Also last week, Shelley Palko of Hanmer picket up her $1 million Maxmillion prize from the May 11 Lotto Max draw. When purchasing a Lotto Max ticket, players choose a set of seven number for three rows.Mamnoon, Rouhani discuss bilateral relations during SCO summit
Lavrov said Russian Federation is "working fine in other formats" such as the Group of 20, TASS state news agency reported. President Barack Obama's landmark 2015 nuclear accord with Iran over the objections of European allies and other nations. -
Kamiyah Mobley’s Family: No Winners in This Situation
At last month's hearing she said Williams should receive the death sentence, something she would never be eligible for. Despite today's sentence I would like to deal with the emotional toll this ordeal has taken on my family.Fox News host sorry for calling Trump a dictator
Donald Trump arrived in Singapore directly from Quebec, Canada after attending G7 summit on Sunday. Later during the show, Huntsman apologized, acknowledging she had made a mistake.Microsoft Announces Gears Of War 5 (And Two Spinoffs)
Gears Tactics takes place 12 years before the events of the first game, with COGS facing off against the early Locust invasion. Gears 5 shifts its focus to Kait Diaz, diving deeper into her background with a continuation on 2016's Gears of War 4 . -
Kylie Jenner Deletes All Photos of Stormi Webster's Face on Instagram
The first photo Jenner posted of Stormi remains, with the new born holding her mom's finger while wearing a pink outfit. Jenner responded to the commenter, revealing that she is not "sharing any photos of my girl right now".Assassin’s Creed Odyssey release date confirmed for October in new trailer
If you hadn't guessed it by now, Ubisoft is doing things a little big differently for Assassin's Creed Odyssey . E3 2018 coverage at Giant Bomb : Still more commentary and news from E3, from our colleagues at Giant Bomb.IHOP reveals the secret behind their new name IHOb
It remains to be seen whether the change will be permanent or merely a flash in the pan (cake) to promote hamburgers. The company is part of Dine Brands Global , the same company that owns the Applebee's chain. -
Prince George plays with toy gun at the polo
However, several people on Twitter have shared their outrage as one of the toys Prince George was playing with was a toy gun. Low-heeled wedges and a casual dress meant Catherine had no problem bounding down the hill after Prince George .Left-Wing Mayors Defy Populist Government, Inviting Banned Migrant Delivery Ships to Dock
The aid group said in a statement it had taken "good note" of Salvini's stance, as reported earlier by Italian media. More than 550,000 migrants have arrived in Italy between June 2014 and June 2017.Same result, different day for French Open champion Rafael Nadal
The square-shouldered Austrian tried his best to engage with Nadal rather than let Nadal's avalanche of statistics overwhelm him. Imperious Nadal won a record-extending 11th French Open title with a 6-4 6-3 6-2 victory over young pretender Dominic Thiem .