Politics & Government
Supreme Court Approves Early Voting in Ohio During Weekend Before Elections
The high court decided against Ohio Republican-backed law to restrict early voting during the first weekend of November
Ohio voters who want to cast their ballots the weekend before Election Day will face no restrictions.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday decided against issuing an order that would have ended the early voting period before the first weekend in November, NBC News reported.
President Barack Obama's campaign pushed for voters to be able to hit the polls and won an appeal in the the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to block a law that would have limited the period.
Ohio Secretary of State John Husted refused to enforce the appellate court decision, but the U.S. Supreme Court came down with a one-line decision against the Republican-backed effort to limit early voting.
"The application for stay presented to Justice [Elena] Kagan and by her referred to the Court is denied," the order reads.
The Sunday before elections proved to be key in Obama's Ohio victory four years ago, particularly for African Americans, according to the Huffington Post.
"We had buses at every church that Sunday," Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church of Cleveland Rev. Theophilus Caviness told HuffPost. "As soon as we left church, we got on the bus and went down to vote."
The Obama campaign expressed pleasure with Tuesday's decision to several media outlets.
"This action from the highest court in the land marks the end of the road in our fight to ensure open voting this year for all Ohioans, including military, veterans, and overseas voters,” campaign general counsel Bob Bauer told the New York Daily News.
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