Ohio Was Set to Purge 235,000 Voters. It Was Wrong About 20% • Hacker News Board

Re: Ohio Was Set to Purge 235,000 Voters. It Was Wrong About 20%

#11

Post by exochrono » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:46 PM UTC

not_a_cop75 wrote: post #5

josefresco wrote: post #3

"And voting rights groups found an unexplained tranche — around 20,000 people — who had been marked to be purged because of inactivity in future election cycles, but were actually active voters in previous Ohio elections. These voters were in Franklin County, a Democratic stronghold in the state." Aaaand there it is.

How hard is it really for a voter to reregister? You guys are making it sound like it they're taking away driver's licenses or something. All you have to do is hit the website. If you don't have internet access hit a library.

From the article, it sounded like many of the people who were to be deregistered had no idea that it was about to happen, and they likely wouldn't find out until they showed up to vote on election day.

Re: Ohio Was Set to Purge 235,000 Voters. It Was Wrong About 20%

#12

Post by gatherhunterer » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:46 PM UTC

empath75 wrote: post #2

Anybody who thinks these schemes are about anything other than removing legitimate voters from the roles is deluding themselves.

That much is clear. This is only a few months after SCOTUS found Ohio’s new election districts to be illegally gerrymandered.

Re: Ohio Was Set to Purge 235,000 Voters. It Was Wrong About 20%

#13

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:46 PM UTC

not_a_cop75 wrote: post #5

josefresco wrote: post #3

"And voting rights groups found an unexplained tranche — around 20,000 people — who had been marked to be purged because of inactivity in future election cycles, but were actually active voters in previous Ohio elections. These voters were in Franklin County, a Democratic stronghold in the state." Aaaand there it is.

How hard is it really for a voter to reregister? You guys are making it sound like it they're taking away driver's licenses or something. All you have to do is hit the website. If you don't have internet access hit a library.

[deleted]

Re: Ohio Was Set to Purge 235,000 Voters. It Was Wrong About 20%

#14

Post by peteradio » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:46 PM UTC

not_a_cop75 wrote: post #5

josefresco wrote: post #3

"And voting rights groups found an unexplained tranche — around 20,000 people — who had been marked to be purged because of inactivity in future election cycles, but were actually active voters in previous Ohio elections. These voters were in Franklin County, a Democratic stronghold in the state." Aaaand there it is.

How hard is it really for a voter to reregister? You guys are making it sound like it they're taking away driver's licenses or something. All you have to do is hit the website. If you don't have internet access hit a library.

Problem is you have no reason to believe you've been dropped and show up to vote but are given a provisional (throwaway ) ballot.

Re: Ohio Was Set to Purge 235,000 Voters. It Was Wrong About 20%

#15

Post by rymohr » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:47 PM UTC

deaps wrote: post #6

coryodaniel wrote: post #4

How does the purging actually work? Is there sole evil republican henchman with database access? Is there no oversight into what is actually purged? Trapped behind the paywall.

>> Trapped behind the paywall. While the site it loading, just hit the escape key.

Any tricks for mobile?

Re: Ohio Was Set to Purge 235,000 Voters. It Was Wrong About 20%

#16

Post by microtherion » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:47 PM UTC

josefresco wrote: post #3

"And voting rights groups found an unexplained tranche — around 20,000 people — who had been marked to be purged because of inactivity in future election cycles, but were actually active voters in previous Ohio elections. These voters were in Franklin County, a Democratic stronghold in the state." Aaaand there it is.

uNexPlAInEd

Re: Ohio Was Set to Purge 235,000 Voters. It Was Wrong About 20%

#17

Post by dd36 » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:47 PM UTC

wbronitsky wrote: post #8

not_a_cop75 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How hard is it really for a voter to reregister? You guys are making it sound like it they're taking away driver's licenses or something. All you have to do is hit the website. If you don't have internet access hit a library.

I think instead of framing this issue as "how easy would it be to re-register" we could instead ask "why should anyone have to register to vote at all?" In the US, voting is a right, which is something that cannot and should not be taken away. Invalidating voting registration, especially in a targeted way, is deplorable.

That’s actually a good argument for registering guns. I have to register for my voting rights, you have to register for your gun rights.

Re: Ohio Was Set to Purge 235,000 Voters. It Was Wrong About 20%

#18

Post by dsfyu404ed » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:48 PM UTC

TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #7

not_a_cop75 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How hard is it really for a voter to reregister? You guys are making it sound like it they're taking away driver's licenses or something. All you have to do is hit the website. If you don't have internet access hit a library.

You don't find out you need to re-register until it's too late.

Don't most places allow same day registration at the polls? Every state I've voted in does.

Edit: ok, 2/5ths isn't most but it's still a lot. Chill with the down-votes, it was an honest question, not an attack on your ideology.

Re: Ohio Was Set to Purge 235,000 Voters. It Was Wrong About 20%

#19

Post by maxerickson » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:48 PM UTC

not_a_cop75 wrote: post #5

josefresco wrote: post #3

"And voting rights groups found an unexplained tranche — around 20,000 people — who had been marked to be purged because of inactivity in future election cycles, but were actually active voters in previous Ohio elections. These voters were in Franklin County, a Democratic stronghold in the state." Aaaand there it is.

How hard is it really for a voter to reregister? You guys are making it sound like it they're taking away driver's licenses or something. All you have to do is hit the website. If you don't have internet access hit a library.

Why do people have to register to vote at all?

The state has a sort of pretty solid idea of where they live...

Re: Ohio Was Set to Purge 235,000 Voters. It Was Wrong About 20%

#20

Post by spamizbad » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:49 PM UTC

not_a_cop75 wrote: post #5

josefresco wrote: post #3

"And voting rights groups found an unexplained tranche — around 20,000 people — who had been marked to be purged because of inactivity in future election cycles, but were actually active voters in previous Ohio elections. These voters were in Franklin County, a Democratic stronghold in the state." Aaaand there it is.

How hard is it really for a voter to reregister? You guys are making it sound like it they're taking away driver's licenses or something. All you have to do is hit the website. If you don't have internet access hit a library.

Because this is HN and you're probably young-ish: When you're older and you've set down roots the last time you updated your voter registration was probably a few decades ago. Chances are your polling place hasn't likely changed either. So you know when elections come, you go to your usual polling place, give your name, get your ballet and "pull the lever" so to speak. You're not thinking "Oh I better double-check my voter registration!" because you haven't needed to do that in ages because your address and party affiliation hasn't changed in years.

The US is strange: It will wring its hands over low voter turnout while also actively making it more difficult to vote.