Michigan voters will be able to pull the straight party lever, due to a judge’s ruling.
U-S District Judge Gershwin Drain ruled that Michigan Republicans intentionally discriminated against African-American voters by banning straight ticket voting in 2015.
Drain’s 103 page opinion said the law would cause drastically longer lines at polling places, which would keep many black voters from going to the polls, and that African-Americans vote a straight Democrat ticket far more than other demographics. Judge Drain ruled that the goal of the law was to end the Democrat’s success with straight party voters.
The issue has already gone to the U-S Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case. So Judge Drain’s decision is the final word on the matter.