INDIANAPOLIS—Senate Assistant Democratic Leader Eddie Melton (D-Gary) released the following statement following the decision by the US Appeals Court to block legislation that sought to purge Hoosiers from the voter registration roll:

“I applaud the U.S. Court of Appeals for blocking legislation that would have purged voters from the voter registration roll. Attempts to remove residents’ voter registration status, without so much as contacting them to let them know they’re being purged, is blatant voter suppression. These kinds of tactics do nothing more than undermine our democracy and sow distrust in our elections, and I’m pleased to see those efforts halted in our state. I voted against this bill when it was in front of the General Assembly and warned that it violated voters’ rights. Unfortunately, there have been multiple attempts to attack voter rights and I expect that we will see more.

“We should be making voting easier and more accessible to Hoosiers–not harder. Disappointingly, many states, including ours, are making it increasingly difficult for the voices of the people to be heard in the voting booth by doing things like blocking same-day registration and no-excuse absentee voting for all residents. Despite these efforts, I will continue fighting alongside my caucus to protect the voting rights of our residents and to upgrade our outdated voting system. It is our goal to ensure voting is efficient and accessible to all Hoosiers.”