Related Federal Cases
Voting Rights Infringement
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, along with Alabama officials, is facing allegations of violating the voting rights of individuals with disabilities.
The Justice Department announced that it has filed statements of interest in federal courts in Ohio and Alabama to promote the correct and uniform interpretation of voting laws guarding the rights of voters with disabilities.
The statements of interest are part of the Justice Department’s continuing nationwide efforts to ensure that the voting rights of all individuals, including people with disabilities, are protected.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Civil Rights Division stated, ‘No voter should be denied access to the ballot based on a disability.’
The lawsuits, brought forth by private plaintiffs, challenge state laws that restrict how voters with disabilities may receive assistance, or from whom they may receive assistance, in casting an absentee ballot.
The Justice Department’s statements of interest confirm that Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act permits voters with disabilities who require assistance to receive that assistance from any person they choose, so long as that person is not an agent of the voter’s employer or union.
Allowable assistance includes all action necessary to make their vote effective, including casting an absentee ballot.
U.S. Attorney Rebecca C. Lutzko for the Northern District of Ohio stated, ‘Every Ohio resident, disabled or not, has a fundamental right to vote.’
The Justice Department’s enforcement of the rights of people with disabilities is available on the Justice Department’s website at www.ada.gov.
To learn more about the Civil Rights Division, visit www.justice.gov/crt.
Key Facts
- State: Ohio
- Category: Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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