A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Wednesday that Ohio must allow most unlawfully purged voters to vote in November. In September the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit struck down [JURIST report] the procedure implemented by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted that effectively eliminated inactive registered voters if they failed to respond to letters requesting confirmation of their status and addresses. The court acknowledged the logistical difficulties posed by the upcoming election and provided guidance on how to allow as many purged voters as possible to vote in the election:

Despite the imperfect circumstances now faced by the parties and Ohio voters purged under Ohio’s Supplemental Process, it is the Court’s hope that the remedies detailed in this Opinion and Order will successfully restore the rights of many Ohio voters prior to the upcoming election.

Husted commented [press release] on the ruling and expressed that the state will comply with the court’s ruling.

The right to vote has become especially contentious as the presidential election approaches. Earlier in October the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida issued an order [JURIST report] requiring Florida to provide a method for voters to fix signature problems arising from vote-by-mail ballots. The judge was highly critical of the state’s opposition to allowing these voters to ensure their votes are counted, calling it an odd and unconstitutional double-standard resulting in disenfranchisement of thousands of Florida voters. Also in October a federal court issued [JURIST report] a preliminary injunction in favor of the Pyramid Lake and Walker River Paiute Native American tribes challenging Nevada’s voting procedure of failing to provide polling places on Native American reservations. In July voter restrictions were overturned in North Carolina, Kansas and Wisconsin [JURIST reports].