A BASIC principle of electoral democracy is that the people pick their leaders. But by tweaking the rules—such as those which govern which forms of identification voters need; when the polls are open; how the ballot is composed—incumbents can tip the balance in favour of one party. Republicans have been particularly active in this endeavour in recent years, crafting rules that make it more difficult for blacks, Hispanics and the poor—core Democratic constituencies—to exercise their right to vote. Most courts to consider challenges to these laws in recent months have rejected them as violations of the Voting Rights Act or the 14th Amendment, or both. Now some of the losers in those cases are trying their hand at one last appeal—to the United States Supreme Court. They are bound to be disappointed.
The justices have so far acted on one petition, rebuffing North Carolina’s request to let it implement five voting changes that an appeals court had condemned as “target[ing] African-Americans with almost surgical precision”. On August 31st, the eight-member Supreme Court, stuck without a ninth justice since February when Antonin Scalia died, divided 4-4 on the Tar...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/2bOwBTp
EmoticonEmoticon