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AP17:069

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 25, 2017
Contact:
Jesse Melgar or Sam Mahood
(916) 653-6575

California Joins Amicus Brief to Defend Against Unlawful Purging of Voter Rolls

SACRAMENTO – Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced today that California joined eleven other states as well as the District of Columbia in filing an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court to defend against unlawful purging of voter rolls. The Supreme Court will decide in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute whether Ohio’s process of removing voters from its voter registration lists complies with federal law. Ohio's "Supplemental Process" is triggered by a registrant's failure to vote during a two-year period and can result in removal from the rolls if the voter fails to respond to a registration confirmation notice and does not vote over the next four years. The amicus brief argues that triggering the removal process based on voter inactivity violates the National Voter Registration Act. 

Secretary Padilla issued the following statement. 

“The Supreme Court will decide whether the process Ohio uses to purge voter rolls prior to the 2016 presidential election violates the National Voter Registration Act." 

"Aggressive purging of voter rolls jeopardizes the fundamental rights of American citizens. It is wrong and violates both the spirit and the letter of the National Voter Registration Act. States should not have free reign to kick voters off the rolls merely because they sit out elections. Under my watch, California will continue to oppose any efforts to roll back voting rights or disenfranchise American citizens." 

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