Inactive Voters To Be 'Purged' in Key Swing State

Inactive voters in Ohio will be removed from voting rolls before the November election as part of an ongoing state policy that has been likened to a "purge."

Once a battleground state, former President Donald Trump claimed Ohio by eight points in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. According to polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight, Trump is poised to win the state as he is on 45.3 percent of the vote to Democratic incumbent Joe Biden's 35.7 percent.

But those headed to the polls may be impacted by changes to the state's voting roll, according to local reports.

Secretary of State Frank LaRose has instructed all county boards of elections to begin reviewing registrations that could be canceled, local publication The Columbus Dispatch reported.

Those who may be "purged" in the routine process include those who moved to a new address and did not update their registration, people who have other incorrect information in their voting registration, and people who have not voted in elections in the last four years.

Boards notify people that their registrations may be canceled and have until May 21 to do so. They can then alert officials if they want to remain registered.

In a statement, LaRose said this will ensure "election integrity" in the state.

"These steps should give Ohioans confidence that election integrity is our top priority," he said. "The process we're initiating...is just one part of a larger, aggressive effort to make sure Ohio is ready for another high-profile presidential election this fall."

However, the move has also been criticized by a voting rights group.

"We applaud any effort that would allow Ohioans to know if they're at risk for being removed before they are removed from the voting rolls," Jen Miller, executive director for the League of Women Voters of Ohio, told The Columbus Dispatch. "But we believe there are far better ways to have accurate voter rolls, including automated voter registration and being part of the ERIC [Election Registration Information Center, a database that allows states to keep accurate voter roles that LaRose removed Ohio from last year] network where states communicate about their voter registration lists."

Meanwhile, writing on X, formerly Twitter, the League of Women Voters of Ohio also described the measure as a "purge."

Newsweek contacted LaRose's office by website form to comment on this story.

The move follows LaRose removing 26,000 voter registrations in November 2023 ahead of a crunch vote seeking to enshrine abortion access in the state's constitution. Those removed hadn't voted since May 2019 and hadn't responded to letters from local authorities asking them to confirm their voter status.

In a statement sent to Newsweek at the time, LaRose said: "When it comes to maintaining our voter rolls, we don't quietly 'purge' active voters. We remove inactive registrations after we've learned a voter has moved and not been active at the address for more than four years. That's been the federal law for three decades, and it's essential to keeping out rolls honest by eliminating duplicate registrations."