Protect your right to vote
Editor ,
Throughout our history, Americans have fought and died for the right to vote. It is the one freedom that is also an essential responsibility of our democracy. The right to vote is also a rare thing in history and a big part of what makes us great as a nation. It is a right that should always be protected and cherished.
On Monday, June 11, the Supreme Court of the United States decided that if a voter skips either a mid-term or a presidential election, the voter can be simply purged from the voter rolls. (Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute) Voting cannot be allowed to become punitive. For example, an emergency on an election day may prevent you from voting that day but should not be the reason you are prevented from voting in the next election.
The promoters of these aggressive purges claim that they are making sure that only legitimate voters are casting votes, but in reality, they are just another form of voter suppression. Indiana is also conducting a purge of its voters’ rolls based on a national database that compares names with registered voters in other states. Luckily, State election officials’ plans to purge voters before the November election was recently blocked by a federal judge in Indianapolis but may come back because of this new Supreme Court ruling.
I urge you to call the County Clerk’s office to make sure that your voter registration is still active or you can check it online at indianavoters.in.gov. If you are not registered to vote, please make sure that you are registered on or before October 9 for the 2018 General Election.
No voter, regardless of party affiliation, should ever lose the right to vote. As Democrats, we will continue to fight to expand access to the polls for every eligible voter. All of us deserve to to be treated fairly, and that including preserving everyone’s right to vote.
#AllOfUs
Pamela McClure, Chair,
Ohio County Democratic Party