Statement from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on the Supreme Court’s Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute decision:
Today, the Supreme Court announced a decision to allow the state of Ohio to purge voters from the rolls after they skip six years of not voting and fail to send back one piece of mail. Five justices on the Supreme Court sent a message to states: try to suppress votes and you just might get away with it. By siding with Ohio in the case brought by the A. Philip Randolph Institute challenging that state's voter purge system, the court opened the door for states to use voters' inability to make it to the polls one year as means of preventing them from casting a ballot the next year.
But as Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted in her dissent, today's decision forces the communities most affected by Ohio's purge—including working people, people of color and people with disabilities—to be even more vigilant in working to dismantle the obstacles to voting. And we will be. The labor movement will continue to fight to expand voting rights and make sure that no matter what the Supreme Court says, states that try to suppress the votes of working people do not get away with it. This also means standing up against politicians who try to silence working people’s voices and step on our democratic values only to protect their own positions.
Contact: Gonzalo Salvador (202) 637-5018