Though the Supreme Court ruled that Ohio was allowed to continue their purging practices, the Supreme Court also noted that Ohio voters removed from the rolls based on a perceived change of address needed to be given “proper notice that they would be purged if they didn’t take certain steps.” So, on October 31, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency motion for an injunction to protect purged voters during the 2018 midterms.
Organizations like the one I work for, Demos, fought for these temporary exceptions — resulting in 772 more ballots cast — in part because purges don’t affect all people evenly. In fact, voters of color are disproportionately impacted. Often, voters of color are more transient and have less job flexibility to return state cards and notices of their voter eligibility.
