Advocates urge Ohio to restore voter registrations removed in apparent violation of federal law

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Voter advocacy organizations have put Ohio’s Republican elections chief on notice that voters are being systematically removed from the rolls in several counties in apparent violation of federal law.

A letter sent Thursday to Secretary of State Frank LaRose, just days ahead of Ohio’s Monday registration deadline, said the manner in which batches of voters suspected of having moved out of state are being systematically removed — based on challenges by third-party groups with no direct knowledge of a voter’s situation — is illegal.

The Ohio chapters of Common Cause and the League of Women Voters, represented by the ACLU and the Brennan Center for Justice in Washington, D.C., urged LaRose to correct the violations within 20 days or they may sue. LaRose’s office is reviewing the request.

The voter advocates cite public records, including minutes of county election board meetings, voter challenge materials and other communications, showing mass removals in Delaware, Muskingum, probably Logan and possibly Cuyahoga counties. The latter is home to Cleveland, a Democratic stronghold.

The National Voter Registration Act prohibits the systematic removal of names from voter rolls 90 days before a federal election. It also requires election officials to notify voters when their registrations are in danger of lapsing, and provides a four-year window for remedying the situation.

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