In Wake of Husted Decision, NAACP Committed to Countering Disenfranchisement of Voters

BALTIMORE - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation’s premier civil rights organization released the following statement on today’s Supreme Court Decision to uphold the Ohio Supplemental Voter “List Maintenance” Process.

The NAACP is disappointed in the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Ohio’s supplemental voter “list maintenance” process, but is likewise determined to protect infrequent voters of color from being disenfranchised through Ohio’s process and similar processes used by other states.  In today’s 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Ohio’s program does not violate the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by impermissibly targeting persons who have not recently voted for possible removal from voting rolls.  The NAACP filed an amicus brief to the Court in this case, which was cited by Justice Sotomayor in her dissenting opinion, which states:  “In concluding that the Supplemental Process does not violate the NVRA, the majority does more than just misconstrue the statutory text. It entirely ignores the history of voter suppression against which the NVRA was enacted and upholds a program that appears to further the very disenfranchisement of minority and low-income voters that Congress set out to eradicate.”

“This decision demands that the NAACP and like-minded organizations redouble their efforts to ensure that voters of color are registered and prepared to vote in this fall’s elections,” said NAACP General Counsel Bradford Berry.  “As we reflect on the life and legacy of Medgar Evers, who was assassinated 55 years ago because of his voter registration work in Mississippi, we call on our members and supporters to engage their state and local officials to focus their efforts onincreasing voter participation in this fall’s elections, rather than targeting the most vulnerable of our citizens for removal from the voting rolls.”