Ohio Rep. Alicia Reece responds to US Supreme Court accepting case on Ohio voting rights
WASHINGTON— State Rep. Alicia Reece (D-Cincinnati) recently responded to the U.S. Supreme Court’s announcement that it will hear a case regarding last year’s cancellation of voting registrations ordered by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted.
“Because the right to vote is our most fundamental freedom as Americans, it is deeply troubling that elected officials charged with upholding our freedom have fought for the exact opposite, blocking over one-million people from having their voices heard,” said Reece. “By taking away their chance to go to the polls, these Ohioans were denied their guaranteed constitutional right. The ugliness of this issue is clear: purging voters is anti-American, and it needs to be stopped once and for all. I hope the highest court in our country agrees and rules in favor of the people – against the politicians.”
In 2015, according to Reuters, 144,000 voters were purged for infrequent voting or moving in Cuyahoga, Franklin and Hamilton counties alone. Statewide figures for the 2015 purge are not yet available.
Reece, who represents parts of Hamilton County, is a long-time voting rights advocate and spoke at the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington.
She also leads the ongoing push for a Voter Bill of Rights, a grassroots effort to amend the state constitution to protect all Ohioans’ right to vote. The Voter Bill of Rights would amend the state constitution to define the right to vote as a fundamental right, establish early voting dates and times, allow the legislature to prescribe proper training and staffing for polling locations, create an online voter registration system, protect against voter ID requirements and voter registration tests, and include safeguards that ensure provisional ballots are counted.
Published in OhioMBE June 1, 2017
