Crawford v. Marion County Election Board
United States Supreme Court
553 U.S. 181 (2008)
- Written by Megan Petersen, JD
Facts
An Indiana statute required citizens voting in person on election day, or casting a ballot in person at the office of the circuit-court clerk prior to election day, to present photo identification issued by the government. The statute did not apply to persons voting by absentee ballot or to persons living and voting in a state-licensed facility such as a nursing home. An exception existed for voters who could not be photographed for religious reasons. A voter who had photo identification but was unable to present it on election day could file a provisional ballot that would be counted only if the voter brought his or her photo identification to the circuit-court clerk’s office within 10 days. Crawford and several other Indiana voters (plaintiffs) filed suit against the Marion County Election Board (defendant) in federal district court on the grounds that the photo-identification requirement unduly burdened their constitutional right to vote. The district court upheld the law as constitutional, and the court of appeals affirmed. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Stevens, J.)
Concurrence (Scalia, J.)
Dissent (Souter, J.)
Dissent (Breyer, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 811,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
