Back in the booth

AWAY from the razzmatazz of the party conventions, federal judges have been making decisions that could have a greater impact on the election. Seven rulings have softened or nullified Republican efforts in several states to tighten voting rules—allegedly to deter fraud, though they also depress turnout among minorities and the poor, who tend to vote Democratic.

In Michigan, where Hillary Clinton has a small lead over Donald Trump, a federal judge ruled on July 21st against a Republican-sponsored law meddling with the layout of the election ballot. For 125 years, Michigan voters have had the option of filling in a single bubble to select every candidate from a given party. Banning this practice, the court ruled, has a disproportionate effect on black voters, who tend to use the straight-party option to vote for the entire Democratic slate. Since it takes much longer to fill in a dozen bubbles, the law will increase “voter wait times…greatly in African-American communities”, potentially deterring them from trying.