Burns v. Fortson

1973-03-19

Headline: Court upholds Georgia’s 50-day voter registration cutoff, allowing the State to close registration before general elections and making late registration (except for President/Vice President) harder for voters.

Holding: The Court affirmed that Georgia’s law closing voter registration fifty days before the November election is constitutional because the State showed administrative need and challengers offered no contrary evidence.

Real World Impact:

Blocks new registrations within fifty days of a November election, except for President/Vice President.
Allows states to defend similar deadlines with evidence of administrative need.
Requires challengers to present evidence to overturn a state's registration cutoff.

Topics: voter registration, election deadlines, voting access, election administration

Summary

Background

A group of people challenged Georgia election officials after a state law required registrars to stop taking new voter registrations fifty days before November general elections, except for those registering only to vote for President or Vice President. The challengers relied on an earlier Supreme Court decision, and the District Court heard the case and upheld the Georgia cutoff based on the record before it.

Reasoning

The central question was whether closing registration fifty days before the election unfairly kept people from voting. Georgia presented extensive evidence that the 50-day deadline was needed because of the complexity of its election rules and to promote orderly, accurate, and efficient elections and to prevent fraud. The challengers introduced no evidence to contradict the State. The District Court found the State’s administrative showing persuasive, and the Supreme Court, in a short per curiam opinion, affirmed that finding while noting the period “approaches the outer constitutional limits.” Justice Blackmun agreed only with the result and urged case-by-case decisions.

Real world impact

As a practical matter, people who try to register within fifty days of the November general election generally cannot register for that election, except for those registering for President or Vice President. The decision shows that states can defend similar cutoffs by presenting evidence of administrative need, but it also leaves open later challenges about how long a cutoff may be.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Marshall (joined by Justices Douglas and Brennan) dissented, arguing Georgia’s facts did not justify the cutoff, noting the statute’s age, absence of volunteer deputy registrars, and that final voter lists were not prepared until 14 days before the election.