North Carolina's emergency application to the Supreme Court to reinstate a controversial set of voting restrictions before November's election has been denied by a deadlocked, 4-4 court. What a difference a dead Scalia makes.
In a one-line order that did not include any reasoning, the high court declined the state’s petition, which sought to put on hold a July ruling that found the voting law discriminated against African-Americans and compared it to a relic of the Jim Crow era.
The state failed to convince at least five justices that three provisions of the contested law ― its voter ID requirement, cutbacks to early voting and elimination of pre-registration for certain under-18 voters ― were worth putting back on the books. The state had argued the measures were necessary to avoid “confusion” that might keep people away from the polls.
But civil rights groups countered that North Carolina’s own prior assurances in court plus “on-the-ground activity” by election officials ― including preparations at the county level to comply with the July ruling ― flew in the face of the state’s insistence that there was not enough time to get things in order for Election Day.
The fact that it took the state a full 17 days to file its "emergency" appeal probably did little to convince the four justices who voted against North Carolina of its urgency. Its case probably also wasn't helped by the idiot executive director of the NC Republican Party who sent out a memo to county boards of election members telling them to "make party line changes to early voting”—a memo sent after the state's emergency appeal.
But here’s a reminder of how critical the Supreme Court is: Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Justice Samuel Alito, and Justice Clarence Thomas all voted to grant the stay, in whole or in part.
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