Glossary
Purcell principle
Supreme Court glossaryAll terms
Definition
The Purcell principle, named for a 2006 Supreme Court decision, says federal courts should avoid changing a state's election rules close to an election.
Why it matters
Late changes can confuse voters and election workers, so the principle often decides emergency election cases and keeps the old rules for the coming vote.
In practice
The Court has used it to pause lower-court orders that changed voting rules or maps weeks or months before an election. It has never set a fixed cutoff.
Check how close the next election is and when the lower court acted; the closer the vote, the more likely the old rules stay.
Common confusion
It is not a ruling that the election rule is lawful. It means any change should wait until after the election.
Examples
No examples available yet.