In response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute, a case challenging an Ohio purge process triggered solely by a citizen not voting during a single two-year federal election cycle, People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker issued the following statement:

“Today’s 5-4 decision is bad news for democracy. Our democracy is designed so that voters can choose their elected leaders, but more and more often we’re seeing elected leaders twist the electoral process so that they’re choosing their voters. In Ohio, the Secretary of State wanted to stack the deck against voters who might turn out on Election Day to vote against his party. So he found a way to get around a congressional prohibition and throw those voters off the rolls. This is a clear case of voter suppression, and any fair-minded constitutionalist would recognize it as illegal in a heartbeat.

“Unfortunately, Republican politicians have spent years packing the Supreme Court with narrow-minded elitists intent on shifting power away from voters and towards the politicians who want to deny them access to the ballot box. This is a decision that wouldn’t have been possible without Neil Gorsuch and his stolen Supreme Court seat. The damage done to our democracy by Mitch McConnell and Chuck Grassley is only just beginning.”

People For the American Way is a progressive advocacy organization founded to fight right-wing extremism and defend constitutional values including free expression, religious liberty, equal justice under the law, and the right to meaningfully participate in our democracy.

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