SCOTUSblog by Amy Howe 7/2/2020
Court grants Alabama’s request to block ruling on COVID-related accommodations for upcoming runoff election
Tonight a divided Supreme Court granted a request by Alabama to temporarily freeze a lower-court ruling, issued as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, that would make it easier for voters in the state to cast absentee ballots in the state’s upcoming primary election runoff, which is scheduled for July 14. By a vote of 5-4, the justices put the order by a federal district court in Alabama on hold while the state appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and, if necessary, the Supreme Court. The court’s four more liberal justices – Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan – indicated that they would have allowed the balloting accommodations to remain in place.
The ruling comes six days after the Supreme Court turned down a request from the Texas Democratic Party to temporarily reinstate a lower-court ruling that would have allowed all voters in the state to vote by mail without an excuse because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also comes on the same day that the justices denied the Texas Democrats’ request to fast-track their petition for review of their claims, an order that all but eliminated the prospect that the justices will weigh in on the merits of that dispute before the 2020 election in November.
Tonight’s order involved a dispute over the requirements for absentee voting in Alabama, where the July 14 primary election runoffs will determine the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, among other races. The Senate runoff pits former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions against former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump. The winner will face Sen. Doug Jones, a Democrat, in the general election in November.
More:
https://www.scotusblog.com/2020/07/court-grants-alabamas-request-to-block-ruling-on-covid-related-accommodations-for-upcoming-runoff-election/
