Debate continues over Ohio’s Golden Week and voting purge
By Tyler Carey, Theresa Cottom and Carolyn Pippin
Between the elimination of early voting during Golden Week and the removal of voter names off the registration list, Ohio Republicans and Democrats are locked in several debates over the leniency of the state’s voting laws and who those laws really affect.
As the country looks to Ohio, one of the four battleground states, during the home stretch of election season, some of the state’s residents are scrambling to obtain access and verify voting registrations before the Oct. 11 deadline.
The importance of this election stirred up concerns over voting, and Ohio’s recent voting limitations earned national media attention.
“There’s a concern that people who want to vote should be able to vote,” said Theresa Nielsen, the deputy director of Portage County Board of Elections.
Golden Week through the Courts
Nielsen explains Golden Week and how it affects her job at the Board of Elections.
Golden Week is a week-long period that allows people to register to vote and cast their ballots at the same time. It bounced around courts several times over the years, and though national media brought the issue to light this election season, Golden Week hasn’t been around since 2014.
The week stemmed from the 2004 election between George W. Bush and John Kerry when Ohio voters faced up to 12 hour-long lines on election night. In 2014, though, courts overturned Golden Week after opponents said its elimination would combat voter fraud and save money.
Back in May, Judge Michael Watson of the U.S. District Court found that the elimination disproportionately affected minorities, therefore violating the Voting Rights Act.
Since Watson’s ruling, it’s gone back and forth between courts, but in September, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Ohio Democrats’ request to restore Golden Week.
Long Live the Feud
Since its creation, early voting induced a largely partisan debate over its usefulness.
On one hand, early voting supporters, argue its elimination disproportionately affects minority groups who may have to work more or can’t afford to drive to a voting destination.
In a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the League of Women Voters (LWV), the groups challenged all early voting cuts, including Golden Week, evenings and weekends.
“It basically comes down to one thing: early voting is hugely popular with voters,” said Carrie Davis, the executive director of the Ohio LWV. “One-third of voters cast their ballot before election day, and why would we cut something that works?”
During that case, Daniel Smith, a research professor at the University of Florida, analyzed early in-person voting and found there is “strong empirical evidence” that there are a greater proportion of black voters who cast their ballots on early voting days. Because Ohio doesn’t record the races of registered recorders, Smith reached his conclusion through an analysis of neighborhood demographics.
Smith found more than 90,000 voters cast absentee ballots during Golden Week, which amounted to 25 percent of all absentee votes.
On the other hand, early voting opponents, argue voting in Ohio is already too lenient and makes voter fraud easier.
“It’s generally always the same party saying there is voter fraud,” Nielsen said.
The Supreme Court’s brief after rejecting Golden Week said it’s still easier to vote in Ohio than many other states. Ohio offers the 10th longest voting schedule in the nation as people can start voting Oct. 12, just a day after voting registration closes. Voters have 23 days of early in-person voting, including two Saturdays, two Sundays and evening hours.
The case of voting fraud, though, doesn’t have solid support.
“We’ve not had any incidence of voter fraud here in Portage County,” Nielsen said. “I don’t think it happens very often at all. There are a number of checks that happen.”
Portage County isn’t the only area unaffected. Across the U.S., a News21 analysis found only 150 alleged cases of double-voting, 56 cases of noncitizen voting and 10 cases of voter impersonation in all elections from 2000 to 2011.
“There’s a lot of investigation that happens before the election and after the election,” Nielsen said.
Voter Purging
Despite its rarity, the issue of voter fraud triggered an increased enforcement of voter purging by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted the past few years, who told PBS his goal is to make it “easy to vote and hard to cheat.”
Reporter Tyler Carey further explains the details of the voting purge, also known as the supplemental process.
The voter purge removes registrants who haven’t voted in three consecutive federal elections to eliminate those who died, moved or aren’t active voters. It’s been a state law for 20 years, but like Golden Week, this year’s election stirred the issue around the courts recently.
The Ohio League of Women Voters said last year, about 400,000 names were purged, and since 2008, 2 million voters were purged. Accurate numbers, however, are few and far between. An investigation by the Cincinnati Enquirer found data tracked by all 88 county board of elections were “half-kept” and confusing.
The state didn’t wipe out any names this year, though, due to a pending lawsuit against Husted by the ACLU, who again argued this would disproportionately impact minority voters.
“There were 1.3 million Ohio voters who last voted in 2012, and if they don’t vote this year, they’re in the pipeline for the next purge,” Davis said. “Ohio is unique in a bad way when it comes to the voter purge.”
Davis said the theme of this year’s registration isn’t, “Are you registered?” but instead, “Have you checked your registration?” Those who believe their names were removed from voter registration can call their local Board of Elections to check.
Minorities or Students
While Nielsen said she doesn’t know whether Golden Week and the voting purge affects minority populations disproportionately, there is one group she said needs to pay special attention to voting registration: college students.
Ryan Kreaps, the regional field director of the Ohio Student Association in Kent, said many millennials aren’t aware they can update their voting address to their dorm address to vote at school instead of traveling back home.
“The purge is unfortunately one of the reasons we’ve been able to register so many people. It’s ‘cause we’re registering people who have been purged and that’s a problem,” Kreaps said.
“In general, it’s very disheartening that these things are happening because we live in a great country where we can vote and we can make our voices heard, and that should be made as easy as possible while maintaining the legalities of it,” Kreaps said.
Nielsen said college students should write the name of their dorm instead of its mailing address when registering to vote. The Board of Elections knows the addresses for local college dorms.
Barbara Hipsman Springer, the voters’ services advocate for the Kent League of Women Voters, advised voters who don’t have a registration card to go to the library and re-register. She also suggested to get an absentee ballot to vote through mail or in-person before election day.
Confused about Ohio voting? Get the truth about Golden Week, the voting purge and election deadlines here: https://t.co/s0gZXJSVtl #JMCRPP
— Theresa Cottom (@Theresa_Cottom) October 5, 2016
https://twitter.com/crayolaaa48/status/783710892366110720
What is the "Voter Purge" & how can it affect the election here in Ohio? My #JMCRPP team did some investigating: https://t.co/0trESwKQ8S
— Tyler Carey (@TC_TV2) October 5, 2016