Judge blocks Michigan law that kills straight party tickets out of concern for black voters

United Press International  43

DETROIT (UPI) — A federal judge on Thursday blocked a new Michigan law that bars straight-ticket voting — primarily over the concern that it unfairly impacts black voters in the state.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed the law in January. Under the code, no voters would be allowed to walk into a voting booth and make only one punch to vote for the candidates of their preferred party.

U.S. District Court Judge Gershwin A. Drain, though, issued injunctions against state election officials Thursday to prevent the law’s enforcement — saying it places a disproportionate burden on African Americans’ right to vote and limits their opportunities to cast ballots.

The judge based at least part of his ruling on a recent U.S. Census Bureau report that found a correlation between straight-party voting and Michigan’s black population. The report indicated that most of the state’s straight-party voters are black.

“The real question that the court must answer is whether the burdens … are in part caused by or linked to social and historical conditions that have produced or currently produced discrimination against African-Americans,” he added. “This question is unavoidably answered in the affirmative......To Read More....

My Take - Further proof of the need for a 28th Amendment!