Michigan Republicans scored an appeals court victory in their effort to enforce an election law in the swing state that makes it a crime to pay for transportation of voters to the polls unless they're physically unable to walk there.
The 2-1 decision late Wednesday blocks an injunction against enforcement of the law that had been issued by a lower court judge as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ruling is a setback for Democratic-backed groups that said the ban needlessly makes voting more difficult.
Courts across the U.S. are weighing in on fights between Democrats and Republicans over access to voting during the pandemic, particularly rules over mail-in ballots.
The Michigan appeals court said there are other ways to transport voters without violating state law, such as driving them for free. Even some paid campaign workers who aren't specifically reimbursed for driving voters may be able to legally do so, the court said. But without a stay on the injunction, the state Legislature would be undermined in its effort to curtail "vote buying" secured through paid rides to the polls, the court said.
"Although prosecutions for illicit vote-buying would still be possible, enforcement would be far more difficult, requiring proof of a quid pro quo," the majority held. "And any vote-hauling fraud that does occur would still have affected the election itself."
The appeals court also found that the expansion of mail-in voting in Michigan this year will reduce the number of people who need rides to the polls.
A dissenting judge wrote that the majority was paying "lip service to federalism," by taking sides "in a controversial state debate."
