Supreme Court Upholds Ohio’s Ballot Integrity Law

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Dean of the Ohio Delegation, spoke at a press conference at the U.S. Supreme Court to defend the constitutional rights of Ohioans who have been purged from voter rolls and to condemn the clear voter suppression implicit in denying eligible citizens access to the ballot box. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute. The case revolves around Larry Harmon, who tried to vote in an Ohio local election in 2015 only to find that the state had removed him from the voter rolls because he had not voted since 2008. Image by Cong. Marcy Kaptur via Flickr Creative Commons https://www.flickr.com/photos/106583696@N08/

In 2015, a guy named Larry Harmon showed up to vote on a local initiative. Harmon’s problem was the last time he cast a vote was in 2008 and he was sort of sloppy about even reading his mail. He wasn’t on the voter roll, and, as far as I can make out, was not allowed to vote. (A brief side trip here. I’m chief judge in a voting precinct. I have been for six years. In my state I would have issued Harmon a provisional ballot. He would have cast it. The Board of Elections would have examined his ballot the week after the election. They would determine that he was eligible to vote and added his ballot to the total and put him back on the voter rolls for next election. A 100% no-harm-no-foul situation. I don’t know how Ohio works this issue.)