BREAKING: Supreme Court, in a 5–4 decision by Justice Alito, allows Ohio (and other states) to purge voters from the rolls for their failure to vote. A massive blow to the Motor Voter Act that will likely lead to a huge amount of disenfranchisement. supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf…
This is a nightmare scenario for voting rights advocates. SCOTUS has effectively given red states the green light to engage in voter purges that disproportionately affect minority and low-income communities. Sotomayor's dissent is scathing. 
Alito's decision is anti-textualist, warping the plain meaning of the Motor Voter Act to allow precisely the kind of voter purge procedure it was passed to forbid. The law expressly *prohibits* a "use it or lose it"-type law to punish infrequent voters.
Because of this decision, thousands of voters will show up to the polls in 2018—only to be told that they have been purged from the rolls because they skipped the last few elections. A disproportionate number of them will be minorities, veterans, low-income and disabled people.
The Supreme Court's 5–4 ruling in Husted v. Randolph Institute is a catastrophe for voting rights. It will lead to mass voter purges that disproportionately disenfranchise minority and low-income voters, as well as veterans and disabled people. My piece: slate.com/news-and-polit…
Before today, federal law protected your right *not* to vote (as it should). Now, every time you skip an election, you may imperil your ability to vote in the future. The days of "use it or lose it" are back. slate.com/news-and-polit…
The Supreme Court's 5–4 decision greenlighting voter purges is also a huge win for the Trump administration. Trump's DOJ actually switched sides to support Ohio's ability to purge low-income and minority voters from the rolls. slate.com/news-and-polit… @Slate
