| Ray v. Blair | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued March 31, 1952 Decided April 3, 1952 | |
| Full case name | Ray, Chairman of the State Democratic Executive Committee of Alabama v. Edmund Blair |
| Citations | 343 U.S. 214 (more) 72 S. Ct. 654; 96 L. Ed. 894; 1952 U.S. LEXIS 2246 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | 57 So.2d 395 (Ala. 1952); cert. granted, 343 U.S. 901 (1952). |
| Holding | |
| Ray could not be forced to certify Blair if Blair refused to pledge to vote for a certain candidate. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Reed, joined by Vinson, Burton, Clark, Minton |
| Dissent | Jackson, joined by Douglas |
| Black and Frankfurter [why?] took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amends. XII, XIV | |
Ray v. Blair, 343 U.S. 214 (1952), is a major decision of the Supreme Court of the United States. It was a case on state political parties' requiring of presidential electors to pledge to vote for the party's nominees before being certified as electors. It ruled that it is constitutional for states to allow parties to require such a pledge of their candidates for elector, and that it was not a breach of otherwise qualified candidates' rights to be denied this position if they refused the pledge.[1] However, the violation of any pledge a faithless elector made was not at issue. It officially defined state electors as representatives of their respective states, not the federal government. The case was argued on March 31, 1952 and the Court announced its decision on April 3, 1952; the majority and dissenting opinions were issued on April 15, 1952.