Bill Schuette

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette in May 2016.

(Katy Kildee | MLive.com file)

Update: Schuette asks U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in

A federal appeals court has denied the Michigan Attorney General's request for a full-court review of arguments made against straight-ticket voting, meaning the practice of filling out a single bubble to vote for all members of one party still remains an option for Michigan voters.

The Sept. 1 ruling comes in a lawsuit filed after the Michigan legislature passed a law banning the practice, signed into law in January.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette filed the request for an en banc review, or a review by all members of the court, following a decision issued by a three-member panel to uphold a federal court's ruling that placed an injunction Michigan's law banning straight-ticket voting.

The Michigan Attorney General's office is reviewing the court's latest ruling, spokeswoman Andrea Bitely said Thursday afternoon.

Read the ruling

A lawsuit filed in the wake of Michigan's new law led to a federal judge striking down the state's ban on straight ticket voting.

The lawsuit, filed in May by the A. Philip Randolph Institute, a black labor organization labor, argued the law disproportionately impacts African-Americans, who are more likely to vote a straight-party ticket.

Schuette, on behalf of Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, filed motions in the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in August, attempting to reinstate enforcement of the law, and a panel of judges denied both last week.

Schuette then filed for the "en banc review" that the court denied Sept. 1.

The case has implications for voters in Michigan's upcoming November election: barring further legal action, straight-ticket voting will be allowed.

A deadline of Sept. 9 stands for any changes to ballots.