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%

#21

Post by Aloha » 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.

I'd agree with you if a voter could just instantly register at the time of voting. Ideally there wouldn't be any need for registration at all.

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

#22

Post by stephencanon » 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.

Harder than it is to not wrongfully remove them in the first place, which is really all that needs to be said.

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

#23

Post by pstuart » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:50 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.

Well they are certainly trying to make it hard: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/court-upholds-ohi...

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

#24

Post by bryanlarsen » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:50 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.

And perhaps that is the real problem rather than the deregistration. Here in Canada you can register at the polling station on the day of the election.

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

#25

Post by lalaithion » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:50 PM UTC

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #18

TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Only 17 states have same day registration. Ohio does not.

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

#26

Post by ceejayoz » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:50 PM UTC

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #18

TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Sorta. There are problems with that approach. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_ballot

> The rates of rejection vary widely across the states, with some states counting all or nearly all provisional ballots while others reject more than half.

I would expect maliciously executed voter purges to be accompanied by malicious rules on provisional ballots.

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

#27

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:50 PM UTC

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #18

TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

[deleted]

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

#28

Post by twoquestions » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:50 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.

For those who don't know, the last day you can register to vote before a general election is October 7

https://www.sos.state.oh.us/elections/voters/register/

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

#29

Post by jcims » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:51 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.

Just a data point as I can’t read the article right now. Franklin County is the largest county in the state and represents 11% of the population.

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

#30

Post by SolaceQuantum » Tue, Oct 15, 2019, 4:51 PM UTC

I couldn't get past the paywall, but are there any independent watchdogs with real political sway about this, or do we need to rely on journalism and rights groups? The issue I have is that journalism could be intensely valid and yet also considered so politically biased that anyone on 'the other side' would dismiss legitimate corruption because of the source. And if a 'same side' media doesn't cover it, it could look like a complete fabrication because what someone understands to be legitimate news sources don't cover the corruption...