The US Supreme Court [official website] on Monday rejected [order, PDF] an appeal from advocates for the homeless and the Ohio Democratic Party [party website] to block state election rules that could disqualify thousands [AP report] of absentee and provisional ballots. The rules allow ballots with minor mistakes or omissions to be discounted. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted [official website] commented [press release] on the timing of the filing, stating that, “plaintiffs are interested only in causing last minute confusion,” with Election Day one week away. The plan outlined [JURIST report] by the District Court for the Southern District of Ohio’s ruling in October to allow most unlawfully purged voters to vote in the upcoming election will remain in effect.

The right to vote has become a contentious issue as the presidential election approaches. In October a New York law prohibiting a person from showing the contents of her prepared voting ballot was challenged as unconstitutional [JURIST report] by state voters for violating their First Amendment rights. The complaint alleges that the law infringes on voters’ freedom of speech and freedom of expression under the US Constitution as well as the New York state Constitution. In the past months laws banning the ballot selfie have been rejected in New Hampshire, upheld in Michigan and challenged [JURIST reports] in New York. Also in October a federal court denied an emergency motion [JURIST report] from North Carolina counties to extend the hours of early voting. In September a district court judge granted [JURIST report] a motion blocking Illinois from allowing voter registration on election day in the state’s most populated counties.