COLUMBUS — In a potential blow to Democrats, a Cincinnati appeals court today reversed a lower ruling that would have resurrected the so-called Golden Week in which Ohioans may register to vote and cast a ballot.

The ruling is the latest in a roller-coaster ride of litigation over how early Ohioans can begin to vote before the Nov. 8 election.

In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the General Assembly has the authority to regulate the election process and its most recent law does not discriminate against particular blocs of voters.

“Ohio is a national leader when it comes to early voting opportunities,” Judge David McKeague, a 1992 appointee by President George H.W. Bush, wrote for the majority.

“The state election regulation at issue allows early in-person voting for 29 days before Election Day,” he wrote. “This is really quite generous. The law is facially neutral; it offers early voting to everyone. The Constitution does not require any opportunities for early voting and as many as thirteen states offer just one day for voting: Election Day.”

Opponents of the law, however, have argued that African American, college student, and lower-income voters were more likely to take advantage of early voting and were, therefore, disproportionately affected by efforts to roll it back.

“Simply stating that Ohio’s early voting system is one of the more generous in the nation provides little helpful information,” wrote Judge Bransetter Stranch, who cast the sole dissent.

“It fails, for example, to account for the rate at which early voting is actually used by different populations, let alone how the voting options in other states might impact the comparison,” she wrote. “In most respects, this issue is local and dependent on the particular circumstances of Ohio’s law and its population. Analysis of the burden that (Senate Bill) 238 places on Ohio voters thus necessarily entails engaging with the factual record. The majority opinion fails to perform that essential work.”

Judge Stranch is a 2010 appointee by President Obama.

With Senate Bill 238, Ohio reduced from 35 to 29 the number of days before the election that voters can cast absentee ballots by mail or in person. This eliminated the so-called Golden Week, the overlap between the start of early and the close of voter registration 30 days before the election.

During these days, voters could register to vote and simultaneously cast a ballot that would be counted assuming the new voter’s eligibility checks out.

The shorter time frame was used for the first time in the 2014 gubernatorial election.

In May, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Watson, a 2004 also a George W. Bush appointee, sided with the Ohio Democratic Party in declaring the law unconstitutional in May.

A further appeal could be sought before the entire 6th Circuit bench or the U.S. Supreme Court.

Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.

First Published August 23, 2016, 5:20 p.m.