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Ohio rolls getting purged of 235K voters, despite errors

Ohio voters

Ohio election officials are planning to move ahead with an effort to remove more than 200,000 voters from the rolls.

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Ohio election officials are scheduled to cancel the voter registrations of 235,000 people on Friday, despite repeated discoveries of errors in the voter database.

Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose has compiled a list of registered voters to be purged unless the people in question take action. Since then, voting rights groups have been digging into the data files and finding errors.

Both the Huffington Post and Columbus Dispatch have reported on multiple cases of errors, totaling tens of thousands of voters. While many were not directly tied to the purge list, advocates argue these errors demonstrate a bigger problem with the voter registration system and the list cleanse needs to be stopped.


"We do not think that the state should be removing any voter from the voter rolls until we first get a handle on the accuracy of our voter registration system," said Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio, told the Dispatch. "These reg systems should be beyond reproach. We should be 100 percent guaranteed that these registration rolls are right and there cannot be inconsistencies between county and state voter rolls. The public deserves to know that maintenance is done correctly."

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People in line outside a building that has a sign that reads "General election"

Voters in Baltimore, Md. enter a polling place on Tuesday.

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Seven crucial things to remember as we look back at the election

Edwards, a Democrat from Maryland, and Wamp, a Republican from Tennessee, previously served in the House of Representatives and now are co-chairs of Issue One’s National Council on Election Integrity.

At the heart of American democracy is a shared principle that has guided our nation for nearly 250 years: The people decide. Elections don’t just happen in a vacuum every two or four years. They are a collective effort requiring all of us to participate and be engaged citizens — as voters, poll workers and election officials alike.

Our elections empower every eligible voter to have a say in who will govern our republic and the policies that will shape our future. No matter your political beliefs, elections remind us that every voice matters. Take it from us — a liberal Democrat from Maryland and a conservative Republican from Tennessee who certainly don’t agree on many issues — civility and trust in the democratic process are hallmarks of self-government.

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