Rosario v. Rockefeller

In an era when voters' rights were increasingly underwritten by the federal courts, Rosario v. Rockefeller reaffirmed states' rights to set election laws in the interest of guaranteeing the integrity of the electoral process. After a United States district court struck down as unconstitutional a New York state law requiring voters to register as party members almost a year in advance in order to vote in a primary, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment and upheld the law, declaring that the deadline was justified by a compelling state interest. The case was important in setting a limit on the applicability of the Equal Protection Clause, which protects groups of people from discrimination. The Supreme Court declined to consider voters who had not registered in advance of the deadline a "group" of people who could claim discrimination.