CONGRESSWOMAN FUDGE APPLAUDS JUSTICE DEPARTMENT STAND IN SUPPORT OF LAWSUIT CHALLENGING OHIO EARLY VOTING RESTRICTIONS

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (OH-11) issued the following statement in strong support of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filing a Statement of Interest today in NAACP v. Husted, a lawsuit before the U.S. District Court of Southern Ohio that seeks to strike down early voting restrictions enacted by the Ohio Legislature and imposed through a directive of Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted:

“I applaud the decision by DOJ to intervene and seek equity for the many Ohioans whose fundamental right to vote is being selectively and unfairly restricted. Approximately 157,000 Ohioans voted in 2012 during certain hours and days of the week no longer available. Ohio Senate Bill 238 eliminated Golden Week (one week during which voters can register and vote on the same day). Secretary Husted then made matters worse by issuing a directive eliminating all in-person early voting on Sundays, during evening hours and during the last three days before an election,” said Congresswoman Fudge.

“Beginning in November 2013, I have asked Attorney General Holder in correspondence and in meetings to see proposed and enacted Ohio voting law changes for what they are— thinly veiled attempts to impede access to the polls for targeted populations such as the elderly, students, minorities and low income voters. According to a Lawyer’s Committee on Civil Rights Report, African Americans in 2012 were 26 times more likely to participate in early voting in the largest part of my district, Cuyahoga County, than Caucasian voters.”

“I welcome DOJ’s concern and involvement. Mr. Holder understands as I do that any attempt to disproportionately impact the rights of any American to vote must not stand— in Ohio or anywhere else in our nation.”

Click here to see Congresswoman Fudge’s November 26, 2013 letter and here for her January 24, 2014 letter to Attorney General Holder.

Click here to view a copy of DOJ’s Statement of Interest.

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