And now the Purcell Principle works against the state of North Carolina, which has been living with, and preparing to implement, the 4th Circuit North Carolina ruling for two full weeks.

A stay imposed by the Supreme Court at this point threatens to confuse voters further, and to make election administrators’ life hell.

The whole reason the 4th Circuit issued its opinion in July is because it had assurances from the state that this would be enough time to make changes. (“At oral argument, the State assured us that it would be able to comply with any order we issued by late July. As to early voting locations and staffing, we were told that at a minimum the State could conduct early voting at the Board of Elections office for each county. As to the photo ID requirement, the State informed us that it would comply with an injunction of that law by instructing its poll workers not to require photo ID. And, as the State acknowledges, its SEIMS system is already prepared to implement same-day registration and out-of-precinct voting. The State told us that the proofs for its voter guide were not due until August 5, and that its election official training would not begin until August 8. We issued our opinion, injunction, and mandate a week in advance of those dates. Because of these assurances, we are confident that North Carolina can conduct the 2016 election in compliance with our injunction.”)

Now, it will be at least 17 days later before the state even starts the clock in the Supreme Court.

Could it be that the state knows it is going to lose this motion before a 4-4 Supreme Court, and the state would rather chalk it up to the timing issue?