Ohio secretary of state Frank LaRose ordered with almost no advance notice thousands of inactive voters purged from the state's voter rolls last month after voting had already begun.
The removals began quietly on Sept. 28, a week after military and overseas voting had started for the Nov. 7 election, in which voters will decide statewide issues on abortion rights and recreational marijuana, reported Cleveland.com.
“This is a stunning order buried in a confusing directive on your website,” said state Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Westlake), who asked the secretary of state to clarify his decision to order the purge.
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LaRose claims he's required by federal and state election law to set rules and timelines for keeping accurate voter registration lists, but a Democratic state lawmaker asked why he didn't wait until after the general election, as he had for August's special election on a proposed constitutional amendment.
The secretary of state’s office has ordered county officials annually for the past few years to remove voters who hadn't cast ballots or responded to mailed notices over a six-year period, but Ohio has been one of the most aggressive states in the country for purging inactive voters.
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LaRose, who is seeking Donald Trump's endorsement in his U.S. Senate race, previously publicized such purges ahead of time. The notice allowed voting-rights groups to warn the voters in question, but this time, the notice didn't come.
