Husted moves to bring voter roll maintenance suit before U.S. Supreme Court
Lead Summary
By
Press Release-
On Friday, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted took the first step in the process of requesting a Writ of Certiorari from the United States Supreme Court in the case of the Ohio A. Philip Randolph Institute v. Jon Husted in his official capacity as the Ohio Secretary of State.
“Proper voter roll maintenance, including the removal of deceased voters and those who have long-since moved, is one of the pillars of ensuring fair elections,” Secretary Husted said. “Ohio’s process for removing duplicate registrations and those of deceased and relocated voters has been consistent under both Republicans and Democrats for over two decades and has been one of our greatest defenses against voter fraud and abuse."
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Despite rhetoric from plaintiffs in this case, the number of Ohioans who show up at the polls on Election Day and experience issues with their registration status is on the decline. During Secretary Husted’s first term as Secretary of State, 166,808 fewer provisional ballots were cast than during the previous, Democratic administration. In addition, a larger percentage of provisional ballots cast were counted.
“Poorly maintained voter rolls lead to frustrating problems at the polls for voters on Election Day and opens the door for voter fraud by allowing outdated and inaccurate registrations to be on the rolls,” added Secretary Husted.
The 2016 Presidential General Election saw fewer provisional ballots cast than the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Presidential Elections, showing that far fewer voters are experiencing issues on Election Day than in previous election cycles.
“The current status of this case leaves one of our most important election safeguards in limbo, which puts into jeopardy our goal of making it both easy to vote and hard to cheat in Ohio,” concluded Secretary Husted. “I will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse this unnecessary intrusion into our state’s elections process.”
“Proper voter roll maintenance, including the removal of deceased voters and those who have long-since moved, is one of the pillars of ensuring fair elections,” Secretary Husted said. “Ohio’s process for removing duplicate registrations and those of deceased and relocated voters has been consistent under both Republicans and Democrats for over two decades and has been one of our greatest defenses against voter fraud and abuse."
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Despite rhetoric from plaintiffs in this case, the number of Ohioans who show up at the polls on Election Day and experience issues with their registration status is on the decline. During Secretary Husted’s first term as Secretary of State, 166,808 fewer provisional ballots were cast than during the previous, Democratic administration. In addition, a larger percentage of provisional ballots cast were counted.
“Poorly maintained voter rolls lead to frustrating problems at the polls for voters on Election Day and opens the door for voter fraud by allowing outdated and inaccurate registrations to be on the rolls,” added Secretary Husted.
The 2016 Presidential General Election saw fewer provisional ballots cast than the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Presidential Elections, showing that far fewer voters are experiencing issues on Election Day than in previous election cycles.
“The current status of this case leaves one of our most important election safeguards in limbo, which puts into jeopardy our goal of making it both easy to vote and hard to cheat in Ohio,” concluded Secretary Husted. “I will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse this unnecessary intrusion into our state’s elections process.”