On August 1, U.S. District Court Judge Gershwin A. Drain ruled that the 2016 Michigan bill that eliminated the straight-ticket device was passed with intent to discriminate against African-American voters, and is therefore unconstitutional. Michigan A. Philip Randolph Institute v Johnson, e.d. 2:16cv-11844. Here is the 103-page opinion, which says in the summary, “Public Act 268 impermissibly infringes on African-Americans’ right to vote, illustrates a discriminatory intent or purpose on the part of the Michigan legislature, and disparately impacts African-Americans’ opportunity to participate in the political process in conjunction with lingering effects of social and historical discrimination. PA 268, then, violates both the Equal Protection Clause and the Voting Rights Act.”

The opinion strongly suggests that if the Michigan legislature had passed no-excuse early voting, the removal of the straight-ticket device would be constitutional. The opinion notes that 37 states permit no-excuse early voting.

Nothing is said about the discriminatory impact on independent candidates. That is not surprising, because the Michigan Secretary of State, who was defending the elimination of the straight-ticket device, did not mention this point. It would have been better if an organization representing the interests of independent candidates had intervened in the case, at least to file an amicus, but that did not happen. It is extremely likely that the Secretary of State will appeal to the Sixth Circuit. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the news.