Supreme Court refuses to reinstate Ohio ‘Golden Week’ News
Supreme Court refuses to reinstate Ohio ‘Golden Week’

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] on Tuesday refused to reinstate [order, PDF] Ohio’s Golden Week voting procedure, which allowed people to register and vote in the same week. Golden Week was the first five days of a 35-day early-in-person (EIP) voting system, prior to the end of registration before an election, and was popular with minority voters. Democrats petitioned the Court [JURIST report] to reinstate the period, stating that it “had played an exceptional, historic role in promoting voter registration in the past two Presidential elections, especially in minority communities.” In opposition, the state noted that it remains easier to vote in Ohio than in many jurisdictions. The court issued only a one-sentence order and did not explain its ruling.

Earlier this month the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld cuts to early voting in Ohio as well as the elimination of the Golden Week [JURIST report]. The state’s EIP voting system was a response to the 2004 election [SCOTUSblog report], in which some parts of the state experienced polling-line waits of up to 12 hours on the day of elections. A federal judge ruled in May that the reduction in the EIP voting practice was unconstitutional [JURIST report] and in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, but the Sixth Circuit reversed.

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