Justices take up Ohio plan that targets inactive voters

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is diving into state efforts to pare their voting rolls by targeting people who haven't voted in a while.

The justices are hearing argument Wednesday in a case from Republican-led Ohio. It's among a handful of states that use voters' inactivity to trigger a process that could lead to their removal from voter rolls. A ruling for Ohio could prompt other states to adopt the practice, which generally pits Democrats against Republicans.

Opponents of the Ohio process say federal law prohibits using voting inactivity to trigger purges. A federal appeals court sided with the challengers.

The Trump administration reversed the position taken by the Obama administration and is backing Ohio's method for pruning its voter rolls.

Supreme Court voting cases often split the liberal and conservative justices.