Supreme Court Voting Rights

The Ohio secretary of state's office confirmed Tuesday that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Democratic Party's request for a stay -- an order putting a lower court's judgment on hold -- to allow Golden Week voting in the November election.

(cleveland.com file)

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a bid by the Ohio Democratic Party to allow Golden Week voting in the November election.

The Democrats requested that the court grant a stay -- a hold on a ruling -- to keep a decision by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals from taking effect. That ruling in August overturned a U.S. district judge's decision that Ohio law changes to shorten the period for early voting and eliminate Golden Week were unconstitutional.

The Democrats appealed to Justice Elena Kagan, the associate justice on the Supreme Court assigned as circuit justice for the Sixth Circuit. She, in turn, referred it to the full court.

You can read their appeal below. Mobile users click here.

The request was rejected Tuesday in a one-sentence order. There were no dissenters.

That means that early voting will begin Oct. 12, the day after voter registration closes. Had Golden Week been restored, voting would have started Oct. 5.

What's the reaction?

"This issue has been dragged through multiple court rooms over the course of several years and every time, it has been sent back with the same message: Ohio's laws are fair and constitutional," Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted said in a statement.



"Ohioans want an efficient and secure election and it is time for these wasteful lawsuits to end," Husted said.

The Democratic Party said it will continue to fight for voting rights.

"We're disappointed in the outcome, but we're not surprised given the fact that the Supreme Court is hamstrung with only eight justices because of Republican obstructionism," Ohio Democratic Party Chair David Pepper said. "Our suit clearly laid out -- and a Bush-appointed judge agreed -- that eliminating 'Golden Week' had a discriminatory impact on African-American voters.

"Ohio Republicans can keep trying to make it harder for people to vote, but we will continue to fight them at every turn." Pepper said.

How did the case start?

The Ohio Democratic Party and Montgomery and Cuyahoga County Democratic parties challenged changes in state law that reduced the early voting period from 35 days to 28 days. The reduction eliminated the so-called "Golden Week," a week when people could both register to vote at their elections board and then vote early in-person the same day.

What was the original ruling?

A federal judge in Cincinnati struck down a state law in May, ruling that it violated both the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

What was the next ruling?

In August, in a 2-1 opinion, the 6th Circuit overturned the district judge. That same panel later rejected the Democratic Party's request that it stay its ruling while the party appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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