High Court Won’t Stay Ohio Early Voting Order

WASHINGTON (CN) - The Supreme Court refused late Tuesday to stay an injunction that gives Ohio civilians the same extended voting privileges enjoyed by members of the military.

In August 2012, Obama for America, the Democratic National Committee and Ohio Democratic Party won a preliminary injunction against an Ohio statute imposing an early voting deadline of 6 p.m. on the Friday before Election Day for nonmilitary voters.

The statute provided military voters with the chance to cast early ballots until the close of polls on Election Day, but civilian voters were not eligible for the extra three days.

In enjoining the statute's enforcement, U.S. District Judge Peter Economus found that Ohio's "interests are insufficiently weighty to justify the injury to plaintiffs."

The Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit affirmed on Oct. 5, leading Secretary of State Jon Husted to apply for a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court.

In an order posted late Tuesday, the court said that the application presented to Justice Elena Kagan and referred to the court had been denied.

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