October 25, 2023
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Yesterday, an article by Cleveland.com revealed that the Ohio Secretary of State’s office authorized a voter purge on Sept. 28, almost a week after voting had officially begun for some voters for the November election. In response, All Voting is Local Ohio State Director Kayla Griffin released the following statement:
“We are disappointed in the Secretary of State’s office’s authorization of the voter purge while voting for the November election was already (and still is) underway. Since past purges by this administration have flagged tens of thousands of voters to be inaccurately purged, this recent purge could potentially lead to many voters showing up to cast their ballots only to find out that they were removed from the rolls. The timing of this purge in September has left doubts about immediate remediation if a voter was inaccurately purged, thus eliciting our concern of the likelihood of a voter being unable to cast their ballot indefinitely.
“It is worth noting that unlike previous purges that this office has conducted, this one occurred without their previous practice of publicizing the purge. Because of this lack of usual notification, groups like All Voting is Local and our partners could not inform voters they may have been purged and would need to register to vote again before the voter registration deadline that was just 12 days later. Voter purges disproportionately impact certain groups, including students, economically disadvantaged folks, and Black and Brown voters – folks who already historically have a hard time accessing the ballot. We’re afraid about whether the timing of this purge leaves them very little time for remediation, or if there is a chance for it at all.”