Background
Ray, Chairman of the Alabama Executive Committee of the Democratic Party, had the duty of certifying elector candidates for Alabama's state Democratic Primaries. Ray refused to certify Edmund Blair as an elector because, while Blair was qualified for the position in all other regards, he had refused to take a pledge that promised, in part, he would support "the nominees of the National Convention of the Democratic Party for President and Vice-President of the United States." While it was not the law that electors had to take such a pledge, the executive committees of the political parties had the statutory right to set the criteria for determining who would be certified as electors in their primaries. Pursuant to this law, the Democratic Party had determined the above-excerpted pledge was a requirement for certification.
A writ of mandamus was issued to force Ray to certify Blair as an elector, despite the fact that he had not fulfilled the requirements the party had set forth. The Supreme Court of Alabama upheld the writ, reasoning, on federal constitutional grounds - specifically the Twelfth Amendment - that the requirement improperly restricted the freedom of electors to vote their choice in state primaries. Based on the fact that the state supreme court ruling cited the federal Constitution, the Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Read more about this topic: Ray V. Blair
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