COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ahead of the November election, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has instructed officials to purge inactive voters from the rolls. Here is what you need to do to find out if you are still registered — plus how you can stay registered.
Ohioans are gearing up for the presidential election.
"I’ts very important to vote, got a lot of decisions to make," Cuyahoga County voter Mary Jo Boehnlein said.
Boehnlein votes in every election. But not everyone does, like Cynthia Hatcher.
"Not the preliminaries," Hatcher said. "Mostly November is when I really look forward to voting."
Now — county boards of elections are trying to warn the infrequent voters to check their registration.
"A voter purge is just really an opportunity for us to keep our voter rolls clean," Tony Kaloger, the deputy director of the Cuyahoga County BOE, said.
LaRose has just ordered local officials to start removing inactive voters, and the officials must have a list of people who they intend to remove by May 21. By May 31, final "registration readiness notice" mailers must be sent out.
Kaloger explained this happens every few years. If you change your mailing address and don't vote for four years, your voter status could be canceled. Even if you don’t move but you don't vote for six years — you could also be purged.
"There's a lot of checks and balances to make sure that people who are registered, who do live in Cuyahoga County, do not unfairly or prematurely get canceled," he said.
As stated above, boards of elections will send out mail numerous times to try to get you to confirm your address and voter status. If you respond, they will keep you on. You can also go to the local office or give them a call to ask about your status.
Although he didn’t last year, LaRose is supposed to put out a list of everyone he is removing from the rolls before the voter registration deadline. You can always go on the secretary of state website to look up if you are still registered.
There has been constant controversy over voter purges.
RELATED: How to find out if your voter registration was removed in Ohio’s mass purge
A viewer reached out to me saying they received a letter in the mail claiming that someone in his household wasn't registered to vote. It came from the nonpartisan group Center for Voter Information (CVI) and the Voter Participation Center (VPC), which informed the voters that abortion rights were on the ballot this fall. The man who received this letter has been a registered Democratic voter for decades, along with his wife, who the letter was directed toward, the viewer said. The couple provided documentation, which was then verified as legitimate by my team. This could have come from a voter purge.
RELATED: Tuesday the deadline to register in time to vote on abortion, marijuana ballot questions
Hatcher said this isn’t fair and is urging everyone to make sure they are still on the rolls.
"Why should someone else make that judgment call just because they haven't showed up?" she asked. "There might be some reason that they didn't or they couldn't make it. Everyone should have the right to vote."
If you find out you have been removed — the deadline to reregister to vote is Oct. 7.
Any person whose voter registration has been purged can immediately reinstate their ability to vote by reregistering on the Secretary’s registration website here or by visiting their county board of elections.
If you believe you or a loved one has been wrongfully removed from the voter list, please email Statehouse reporter Morgan Trau at Morgan.Trau@wews.com.
