Fourth Circuit Strikes Down South Carolina’s Restrictions on Absentee Ballots under the 26th Amendment

Fourth Circuit Strikes Down South Carolina’s Restrictions on Absentee Ballots under the 26th Amendment

This week, the Fourth Circuit issued a major ruling striking down South Carolina’s limits on absentee ballots. The relatively novel basis of this opinion (by Judges Roger Gregory, Judge Pamela Harris,  and Judge Julius Richardson) was that it violated the 26th Amendment as discrimination on the basis of age for voters. The opinion conflicts with rulings in other circuits and, in my view, is challengeable. The case of Grant v. Belangia came to th…