MOSCOW, September 22 (HS/RIA Novosti) - The US Supreme Court's ruling on voting by mail will not affect voter turnout in the upcoming midterm elections, Gareth Jenkins, a nonresident senior research fellow with the Joint Center Silk Road Studies Program and Turkey Center at the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm, told RIA Novosti.

Last week, the US Supreme Court blocked the implementation of new rules that would have required voter lists to be provided to the US Postal Service, which would then verify recipients' addresses against the lists before delivering the ballots. In addition, rules were established for the formatting of envelopes. Previously, the Postal Service had not been tasked with such functions.

Although other factors may affect the turnout, the Supreme Court ruling won't be one of them. If the Supreme Court had approved the changes, then the turnout would probably have been lower as many of those who usually vote by mail would have been unable or unwilling to do so, Jenkins said.

The court's ruling will probably not have a significant impact on states where voting by mail was widespread, the expert said. The impact would have been significant if the court had voted to approve the changes, especially because there was not very long to go before the midterms, he added.

The US midterm elections will be held on November 3. On that day, 33 senators and all 435 members of the House of Representatives will be elected. Legislative elections in many states will also take place.

Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar