In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court upheld an Ohio law that purges voters from the rolls if they fail to vote in an election and also do not respond to a residence confirmation mailing.
California joined 11 other states and the District of Columbia
to submit an amicus brief to the US Supreme Court opposing Ohio’s voter purge practice. Secretary Padilla released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling:
"Ohio’s “use it or lose it” voter registration law upheld by today’s decision is a setback for voting rights. Now, military and overseas voters, communities of color, the elderly, the young, and the disabled, are at risk of losing their right to vote as a result of Ohio’s restrictive voter registration laws."
"As we saw in the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Shelby v. Holder, states will once again have a green light from our nation’s highest court to side with voter suppression rather than voting rights and to further chip away at the very foundation of American democratic values."
"California and other states have resoundingly opposed—and will continue to oppose—the Ohio-voter suppression model, by providing a more inclusive democracy that protects and expands individual voting rights."
"Other states who attempt to impose similar restrictions are on notice. Secretaries of state who support protecting and expanding the franchise will do everything in our power to work with government, organizations, non-profits, elected leaders and legal advocacy groups to fight any further attempt to enact Ohio’s voter suppression model."
