Burns v. Fortson

410 U.S. 686, 93 S. Ct. 1209, 35 L. Ed. 2d 633, 1973 U.S. LEXIS 95

• Court: Supreme Court of the United States
• Decided: March 19, 1973
• Docket: 72-901
• Status: Published

Opinions

Per Curiam.

By statute, Georgia registrars are required to close their voter registration books 50 days prior to November general elections, except for those persons who seek to register to vote for President or Vice President. Ga. Code Ann. §§ 34-611 and 34-602.

* The District Court upheld the registration cutoff against appellants’ constitutional attack based upon this Court’s decision in Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U. S. 330 (1972). This appeal followed.

The State offered extensive evidence to establish “the need for a 50-day registration cut-off point, given the vagaries and numerous requirements of the Georgia election laws.” Plaintiffs introduced no evidence. On the basis of the record before it, the District Court concluded that the State had demonstrated “that the 50-day period is necessary to promote . . . the orderly, accurate, and efficient administration of state and local elections, free from, fraud.” (Footnote omitted.) Although the 50-day registration period approaches the outer constitutional limits in this area, we affirm the judgment of the District Court. What was said today in Marston v. Lewis, ante, p. 679, at 681, is applicable here:

“In the present case, we are confronted with a recent and amply justifiable legislative judgment that 50 days rather than 30 is necessary to promote the State’s important interest in accurate voter lists. The Constitution is not so rigid that that determination and others like it may not stand.”

The judgment of the District Court is

Affirmed.

Section 34-611 was enacted in 1964. At present, Georgia has no independent durational residency requirement. The State’s statutory requirement of one year in the State and six months in the county (see Ga. Code Ann. §34-602) was held unconstitutional in Abbott v. Carter (No. 15689, ND Ga. 1972).