Voting Rights Advocate Ohio Rep. Alicia Reece responds to SCOTUS Ohio voter purge approval

Voting rights advocate Ohio state Rep. Alicia Reece (D-Cincinnati) today issued the following statement in response the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Ohio’s controversial practice of blocking citizens from voting by cancelling their voter registration:

“Today’s decision is in direct conflict with who we are as Americans and what we stand for around the world: free and fair democratic elections. It is disappointing that Ohio would go to such great lengths to make voting harder instead of easier. Citizens should be able to exercise their most fundamental freedom as they see fit without fear of being denied their sacred right as an American. As Ohio continues to be ground zero for extreme, partisan voter discrimination laws, we must fight for a better way – one where our most fundamental freedom is put into our state constitution and taken out of the hands of partisan politicians.”

Reece, a board member of the National Action Network and former vice chair of the 2016 DNC convention, has garnered statewide and national attention for her activism on justice reform and voting rights. The Cincinnati lawmaker has called for a Voter Bill of Rights to be guaranteed in state constitutions throughout the nation, and she serves as a founding member of the Ohio Governor’s task force on police-community relations.