COLUMBUS – With just about two weeks left until the deadline, community groups are working to ensure all eligible Ohioans are registered to vote.
Volunteers are canvassing neighborhoods and holding events around the state leading up to and during National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday.
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The Ohio Organizing Collaborative has registered more than 140,000 voters and aims to register 10,000 more before the October 11th deadline.
“The state has been purging voters who maybe haven’t voted in a couple years and they’re getting knocked off the rolls and they’re not even aware. If you move between elections and don’t update your status, then you can’t vote at the proper polling location. There’s just a lot of barriers there,” spokesman Michael McGovern said.
A federal appeals court on Sept. 23 ruled Ohio’s purge of millions of registered voters from the rolls violates the National Voter Registration Act. According to the Secretary of State’s Office, more than one million people were removed for either moving or infrequent voting between 2011 and 2014.
Ohio is a crucial swing state for both political parties and, with elections very competitive, sometimes a few votes can make a difference.
“In 2012 Barack Obama won Ohio by 160 thousand; in 2010, John Kasich was elected governor by about 70 thousand; George W. Bush won Ohio in 2004 by 110 thousand,” McGovern said
McGovern’s group is also organizing communities around social- and economic-justice issues in order to create a path from civic engagement to improved quality of life.