The United States Supreme Court, Washington, D.C.

One of the most contentious battles over new voting laws was settled today by the Supreme Court. The state of Ohio wanted to limit early voting on the last three days before November 6 to members of the military. The Obama campaign, the Democratic National Committee and the Ohio Democratic Party sued to have one law for everyone. There is really no reason to assume that a member of the military who is living stateside cannot get to a polling place until the last three days of early voting, but everyone else can get there before November 2^nd.

It has become tradition in some churches to transport groups of voters to the polls on that last Sunday, particularly those who live in the inner cities and who might not drive. This tradition has gotten a name over the years, “Souls for Polls.” This last Sunday was also targeted by Florida.

The state of Ohio had appealed to the Supreme Court the decision of the 6^th U. S. Circuit Court of appeals which upheld a U. S. District Court ruling that the law unnecessarily favored one group of voters over others and should be overturned, but left it up to the individual country election boards to decide which days they would operate. Fifteen states, including Colorado, Wisconsin and Virginia filed supporting briefs for Ohio. The Supreme Court issued a one-sentence order denying a request to stay the decisions of the lower courts and allow the state to limit early voting days.

One sentence out of nine lawyers may be a new record.

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