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A Victory For Obama, High Court Refuses Ohio Early Voting Case

With a one sentence decision, the U.S. Supreme Court handed President Obama a victory today.

The court refused to hear a case that sought to block early voting Ohio. The AP reports:

"The court on Tuesday refused a Republican request to get involved in a dispute over early voting in the state on the three days before Election Day.

"The campaign of President Barack Obama and Ohio Democrats sued the state over changes in Ohio law that took away the three days of voting for most people, but made exceptions for military personnel and Ohioans living overseas. Democrats say nearly 100,000 people voted in the three days before the election in 2008."

The new law would've blocked early voters from casting their ballots the weekend before the election. SCOTUS blog reports that a lower court decided state officials had to keep the polls open to everyone, if they decided to keep them open to some.

Without explanation and without a dissent, SCOTUS blog reports, the Supreme Court sided with the federal appeals court.

The Washington Post reports that about 105,000 voters cast their ballots during that weekend in 2008.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.