美国国家公共电台 NPR In Key Voting-Rights Case, Court Appears Divided Over Ohio's 'Use It Or Lose It' Rule

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

OK, arguments start today in a big voting rights case before the Supreme¹ Court. The case centers on an Ohio law that is meant to clean out the state's voting registry. The law says if you don't vote in two straight elections, and if you don't respond to a letter confirming your address, you're out - can't vote. NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg reports.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE²: Larry Harmon is ticked off. He thinks the state of Ohio is trying to pull a fast one to get voters off the rolls. He normally votes in presidential election years but not the midterms. But in 2012, neither Barack Obama nor Mitt³ Romney rang his chime, so he decided⁴ not to vote. When he did decide to vote, a few years later, he found he was no longer registered. He'd been purged⁵ from the voter rolls because he hadn't voted in the previous two elections.

LARRY HARMON: I kind of got angry. I'd been paying taxes and doing all the things required of me to be a good citizen. But they had turned me away and taken away my right to vote.

TOTENBERG: He says he doesn't remember getting any sort of mailed request from the state to confirm his voting address. After all, he says, he's lived at the same address for more than 16 years. And he and his neighbors often get each other's mail.

HARMON: I don't know why they trusted the U.S. mail, you know, unless they were going to send me a registered letter.

TOTENBERG: Besides which, he notes, there are lots of other ways to check addresses - by checking tax forms, property tax listings and driver's licenses⁷ - to name just a few. I've earned the right to vote, says the Navy veteran.

HARMON: Whether I use it or not, you know, is up to my personal discretion⁸. They don't take away my right to buy a gun if I don't buy a gun.

TOTENBERG: So he sued the state, represented by Demos, a liberal public policy organization. And he won. The lower court said that Ohio's voter purge⁶ law violates the National Voter Registration⁹ Act, better known as the motor voter law. The law is aimed at making voter registration easier. And it says that while states should take steps to keep their voting rolls up to date and accurate, they may not remove people from the rolls, quote, "by reason of a person's failure to vote."

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine declined to be interviewed for this broadcast, but the state claims that it's not using failure to vote as the reason for striking Larry Harmon and thousands of other voters from the rolls. Rather, it says, it is striking from the rolls those who do not vote for two years and who fail to confirm their registration at the same address over the next two years. Harmon and his lawyers contend that the trigger for removal is in fact the failure to vote in two consecutive¹⁰ elections.

Twelve states, largely controlled by Democratic officeholders, have filed briefs supporting Harmon. They all point to methods, they say, are far more effective than unregistered mail for ascertaining¹¹ whether someone has changed his or her legal voting address. And they point to other reasons people may have temporarily moved but not changed their voting address, including military service. Nineteen states, largely controlled by Republican officeholders, are supporting Ohio's position though none has a law as aggressive as Ohio's in seeking to verify the voter registry. Stuart Naifeh, who will argue the case for Larry Harmon today, notes that both Democratic and Republican secretaries of state have used this system in Ohio for decades.

STUART NAIFEH: We don't believe it's a partisan¹² case. We believe that what Ohio is doing is unlawful under the National Voter Registration Act, regardless of the party of the secretary of state.

TOTENBERG: Failure to vote is not unusual in this country. In 2016, 29 percent of the registered voters in Ohio failed to vote. And nationwide, the number was even higher - more than a third according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Lawyers arguing against the Ohio voter purge system note that once you miss two federal elections in that state, if you go to vote and cast a provisional ballot¹³, that ballot will not be counted because you're no longer registered. The irony¹⁴ is that by casting a provisional ballot and swearing to your address, you will be able to vote in the next election.

Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF JOEY FEHRENBACH'S "EDISON CYLINDER")

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 purged   

清除（政敌等）( purge的过去式和过去分词 )； 涤除（罪恶等）； 净化（心灵、风气等）； 消除（错事等）的不良影响

参考例句：

• He purged his enemies from the Party. 他把他的敌人从党内清洗出去。
• The iron in the chemical compound must be purged. 化学混合物中的铁必须清除。

6 purge   

n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁

参考例句：

• The new president carried out a purge of disloyal army officers.新总统对不忠诚的军官进行了清洗。
• The mayoral candidate has promised to purge the police department.市长候选人答应清洗警察部门。

7 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

8 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

9 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

10 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

11 ascertaining   

v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I was ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. 我当时是要弄清楚地下室是朝前还是朝后延伸的。 来自辞典例句
• The design and ascertaining of permanent-magnet-biased magnetic bearing parameter are detailed introduced. 并对永磁偏置磁悬浮轴承参数的设计和确定进行了详细介绍。 来自互联网

12 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

13 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

14 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。