High court hears arguments in Ohio voter purge case

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court appeared sympathetic Wednesday to states that seek to prune their voting rolls by targeting people who haven’t voted in a while.

In a case from Ohio, opponents of the practice called it a violation of a federal law intended to increase the ranks of registered voters. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said minorities and homeless people appear to be disproportionately kicked off the rolls.

But the court’s conservatives and possibly also Justice Stephen Breyer indicated they would uphold the state’s effort.

Ohio is among a handful of states that use voters’ inactivity to trigger a process that could lead to their removal from voter rolls.

Signaling support for Ohio’s defense of the process, Justice Anthony Kennedy said states are “trying to protect their voter rolls … What we’re talking about are the best tools to implement that reason, to implement that purpose.”

Breyer repeatedly pressed the lawyer for opponents of the process.

The opponents say the 1993 National Voter Registration Act prohibits using voting inactivity to trigger purges and that Ohio purges registered voters who are still eligible to vote.

Partisan fights over ballot access are being fought across the country. Democrats have accused Republicans of trying to suppress votes from minorities and poorer people. Republicans have argued they are trying to promote ballot integrity and prevent voter fraud.

A decision in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute, 16-980, is expected by late June.