Ohio must allow ‘purged’ voters to vote, court rules

A federal appeals court has ordered Ohio to allow voters who had been purged from the election books for not voting over a six-year period to participate in this year’s election.

A divided 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Thursday granted an emergency motion sought by voting-rights groups. The ruling overturned in part an Oct. 10 ruling by a federal judge that said voters hadn’t been illegally purged from Ohio’s rolls.

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The case grew from an earlier U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of Ohio’s practice.

The 6th Circuit panel found that there wasn’t an emergency need to block further purges and that it could consider that part of the appeal later.

Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted said “While I disagree with the Court’s decision, it is temporary and narrow in scope. I will not appeal the decision because that would serve as an unnecessary source of contention with an election only five days away.

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