NEW YORK – This weekend, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, who is currently facing accusations of suppressing the vote in Ohio, will speak at an Ohio conference for True the Vote, a Tea Party spin-off organization known for its efforts to shut out voting blocks that typically lean Democratic by citing nearly non-existent voter fraud.

Nearly 45,000 ColorOfChange members have signed a new petition, calling on Husted to stop stifling Ohio voters and to reinstate weekend early voting hours this election season. Husted previously supported limiting early voting in racially diverse urban areas while allowing for extended hours in suburban and rural, Republican-leaning parts of the state. Following a national outcry, Husted ended all weekend voting throughout Ohio, significantly limiting the ability of Ohio residents to vote in this crucial election.

The following is a statement from ColorOfChange Executive Director Rashad Robinson:

“By arming a contingent of so-called ‘poll watchers’ to pass judgment on voters, True the Vote uses intimidation to make voters, particularly Black voters, feel like criminals. That Jon Husted would align himself with this group, particularly as he enacts measures that will seriously hinder access to the polls in Ohio, just goes to show that the state’s leading election official is willing to disenfranchise a large segment of Ohio’s voters.”

According to studies by the Brennan Center for Justice, 5 million people could be disenfranchised in 2012 due to voter restriction laws.Other measures, such as restrictions on early voting in Ohio and discriminatory voter purges in Florida, stand to keep even more eligible voters from participating in democracy.

This week, ColorOfChange launched Vote.ColorofChange.org, a new website offering exhaustive information on voting regulations and requirements to combat disenfranchising policies and ensure that the Black community is empowered to raise its voice in the voting booth this election. The site guides visitors through voter registration, sharing registration deadlines and procedures, ID requirements, and early voting opportunities state by state.

Vote.ColorofChange.org will be updated throughout the election season as pending voting laws are finalized, and will also host the Watch the Race 2012 blog, to will monitor and push back against instances of race-baiting and voter suppression. It will also allow for users to report on the race by uploading their own evidence of race-baiting or voter confusion efforts in their local elections.

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With more than 800,000 members, ColorOfChange.org is the nation’s largest Black online civil rights organization.