COLUMBUS — Ohio voters will be able to vote during the final three days before the Nov. 6 election, since the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted’s appeal.

The highest court in the land filed a one-sentence order denying Husted’s request to intervene. Soon after, Husted issued a directive establishing uniform in-person voting hours for all 88 Ohio counties for the three days before Nov. 6.

“Despite the Court’s decision today to deny our request for a stay, I firmly believe Ohio and its elected legislature should set the rules with respect to elections in Ohio, and not the federal court system,” Husted said in a statement. “However, the time has come to set aside the issue for this election.”

President Obama’s campaign sued Husted in July over a 2011 state law prohibiting early voting during the weekend before Election Day except for overseas military personnel. The U.S. District Court and the Sixth Court of Appeals sided with the Obama campaign on the grounds all Ohio voters are to be treated equally.

“This action from the highest court in the land marks the end of the road in our fight to ensure open voting this year for all Ohioans, including military, veterans, and overseas voters,” Obama campaign general counsel Bob Bauer said.

Ohio lawmakers established early voting after the 2004 presidential election, which was fraught with hours-long lines that likely caused some voters to go home without casting a ballot. Last year, lawmakers cut the three days before Election Day for all Ohioans except those serving in the military. The change caused weekend-voting disputes in several counties, and Husted established a statewide in-person early voting schedule that did not include any weekends.

Several studies have shown Ohioans who voted in the three days prior to the 2008 presidential election tended to vote Democrat. Ellis Jacobs, a Dayton voting rights activist, said the Supreme Court decision was a victory for Ohio voters.

“That last weekend is going to be very popular; tens of thousands of people across the State will certainly take advantage of it to vote,” Jacobs said. “In addition to making it possible for working people to vote in person early, the extra hours will help take some of the pressure off polling places on Election Day.”

Reaction from local Boards of Election varied, often depending on the size of the county.

Montgomery County Deputy Director Steve Harsman said he advocates for extended and weekend voting hours because his staff will be there long hours anyway, preparing for the county’s 380,000 registered voters.

But Preble County’s BOE has only two full-time employees, supported by some part-timers, and opening for voting Saturday through Monday will be a strain, according to BOE Director Virginia Weiler.

“I don’t know how we’re going to handle Sunday yet,” Weiler said. “The deputy director and I will probably be the only two coming in.”

She said Monday voting will be a challenge, as she’ll be working with a moving company to get supplies to polling locations, while also answering phones and helping people to vote.

“Whatever we have to do to be ready at 6:30 Tuesday morning, if we have to stay here till midnight, we’ll do it,” Weiler said. “It’s not optional. This is going to make it a lot harder, but we’ll get it done.”

The voting hours themselves are significantly less than Montgomery County had on the final three days in 2008, but more than most counties. Ohioans will be able to vote in-person at local Board of Elections offices from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 3, 1 to 5 p.m. Nov. 4 and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 5.

Montgomery County was open 12.5 hours on both Saturday and Monday, and 7.5 hours Sunday in 2008. But Greene, Warren, Miami, Preble and many other counties were not open at all on the final Sunday in 2008, and had morning-only hours on Saturday.

“I think we could have handled longer hours on Saturday, Sunday and Monday,” Harsman said. “We did it in 2008 and we were prepared to do it in 2012, but as long as all sides are comfortable with this, we support it, and we’ll work within these parameters.”

Husted fired the two Democrats on the Montgomery County board for trying to extend hours beyond his directive. Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern on Tuesday called on Husted to reinstate Democrats Dennis Lieberman and Thomas Ritchie, Sr.

“They were fired for doing exactly what the U.S. Supreme Court permitted through a Circuit Court of Appeals and a federal judge and what Jon today ordered,” Redfern said.

Husted spokesman Matthew McClellan said the secretary might still appeal the decision, but not until after the election.