Supreme Court to take up Ohio's purges of inactive voters
Joseph Helle
Joseph Helle  was expecting a different sort of reception when  he  returned home from Army tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and showed up to vote in  his  small Ohio town near Lake Erie.
 His  name was missing from the voting rolls in 2011  even though Helle had registered to vote before leaving home at 18 and hadn't changed  his  address during  his  military service.
 Helle  said  he  had no idea  his  name had been dropped  and said  he  mailed in absentee ballots in some years and not others.  His  local elections board said it has no record that  Helle  voted while  he  was away.
But even if  he  hadn't voted   Helle  said opting not to cast a ballot should be a voter's choice and shouldn't be penalized.
"That's part of the free-speech argument to me "  he  said. "Choosing not to vote is as important as choosing to vote. It's one way to say  I do not believe in what's going on here  or in either candidate  for instance."
[TGT]was expecting a different sort of reception when  [TGT]  returned home from Army tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and showed up to vote in  [TGT]  small Ohio town near Lake Erie.
 [TGT]  name was missing from the voting rolls in 2011  even though [TGT] had registered to vote before leaving home at 18 and hadn't changed  [TGT]  address during  [TGT]  military service.
 [TGT]said  [TGT]  had no idea  [TGT]  name had been dropped  and said  [TGT]  mailed in absentee ballots in some years and not others.  [TGT]  local elections board said it has no record that  Helle  voted while  [TGT]  was away.
But even if  [TGT]  hadn't voted   [TGT]said opting not to cast a ballot should be a voter's choice and shouldn't be penalized.
"That's part of the free-speech argument to me "  he  said. "Choosing not to vote is as important as choosing to vote. It's one way to say  I do not believe in what's going on here  or in either candidate  for instance."