by Samuel Davis
The Supreme Court of the United States is taking up the case of a Ohio man who was denied the right to vote because he failed to vote in two successive prior elections.
ln 2015, Larry Harmon who resides in Kent, Ohio, a Navy veteran and a software engineer was turned away from his local polling place when it was discovered that he was no longer on the list of registered voters.
He had not voted for two successive elections and the State of Ohio removed him from a list of registered qualified voters. The Supreme Court of the United States is taking up the challenge to the system Ohio uses to remove voters from the voters data base. Many groups including civil rights groups say that the system Ohio uses, along with many other states, discourages minority voters. The State of Ohio says that it is an important tool in trying to keep the voter registration list accurate and up to date.
Professor Rick Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, believes that many states will do what Ohio does if the Court rules in Ohio's favor. That would mean that it would be easier to drop people from voter registration roles.
Currently there are six other states that have similar laws - Georgia, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It is believed that more than a dozen other states have indicated they would like to adopt the same system as Ohio should the Court rule in Ohio's favor. This case will be decided by late June.
This is an interesting case because it is certainly important for states to keep their voting roles current and accurate but just as importantly, on the other hand, citizens, especially now when participation in elections is on the decline, should be encouraged to vote and the process of voting should be as seamless as is reasonably possible.
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