Scalia's death will have an immediate effect on the Supreme Court's rulings

With the sudden, unexpected death of Justice Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court is down to eight justices — and may stay that way for more than a year, if Republicans follow through on their threat to block any nominee put forward by President Obama. Scalia's passing will potentially change the ideological balance of power on the court for the first time in decades, but it will affect the court during this term, too.

Most consequentially, the Supreme Court has accepted and heard arguments on 24 cases this term that it hasn't yet formally decided, says Chris Geidner at BuzzFeed News, and "Scalia's votes in these 24 cases are now gone." Scalia's missing votes probably won't change the outcome in most of those cases, and the court has the option of ordering a rearguing of any of those cases for when it has a full bench. In close cases where it pushes on, though, Scalia's absence from a conservative 5-4 majority would leave the justices tied, 4-4. "A tie vote on the Supreme Court, effectively, allows the lower court ruling that was being appealed to stand," Geidner explains. "But this scenario creates no national ruling like one from the Supreme Court does."

That matters in at least four accepted, argued, undecided cases, Geidner says, including a public union case in California, two voting rights cases, and the University of Texas affirmative action case. And there are two accepted, unheard cases, dealing with abortion restrictions in Texas and Obama's executive orders on immigration. "Scalia’s absence could have a dramatic effect on both cases," Geidner says, though 4-4 ties in those cases would allow the conservative decisions of the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to stand. You can read more about how Scalia's death affects the Supreme Court at BuzzFeed News.

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