The Supreme Court has adopted the Purcell rule, which states that federal courts should not change election rules "too close" to an upcoming election -- even if the rules in place violate federal laws. Of course, the purpose of changing the rules would be to guarantee an equal right to vote, but the Court felt that changes too close to an election could do greater harm than disenfranchising some voters by confusing a greater number of voters. This article criticizes the rule on several grounds:
- The rule was adopted on the shadow docket, without arguments or a signed opinion.
- There is no definition of what is "too close," and the Court invoked the rule 9 months before an election to keep (probably) unfair Congressional districts in place in Alabama.
- Traditional rules for deciding these cases could taken voter confusion into account amongst other factors and weight the relative harms of each.
Charlie Cooper
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