NEW YORK – Today, nearly 40,000 ColorOfChange members are calling on Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted to restore extended weekend voting hours, allowing more citizens in the battleground state to exercise their right to vote. 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:

“As Ohio’s top election official, it is Mr. Husted’s most fundamental duty to ensure that all Ohioans can exercise their most basic constitutional right to vote. Instead, he has rolled back access for Ohio voters, specifically in racially diverse urban areas like Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Dayton, and threatened to fire any Democrats who may disagree. Now is the time for him to open up voting in Ohio, not double down on restricting access to the polls.

Evening and weekend hours are critical to Black voters who cast their ballots before or after work or after church in the weeks preceding elections. Our communities take advantage of extended hours. We at ColorofChange.org urge Secretary Husted to remember his oath, to rise above party politics and to protect Black voters and all Ohioans by restoring the extended early voting hours.”

According to studies by the Brennan Center for Justice, 5 million people could be disenfranchised in 2012 due to voter restriction laws. 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.