Law Commons^™

Maybe We Don't Need To Find Waldo After All: Why Preventing Voter Fraud Is Not A Compelling Interest, Brandon T. Goldstein

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

This Note takes the position, counter to established jurisprudence, that the prevention of voter fraud is not a compelling state interest that can independently justify restrictions on the right to vote. It will seek to do so through two mechanisms. First, it will argue that the right to vote is unjustifiably treated differently than other rights by courts, using a comparison to the Second Amendment right to bear arms. Second, it will argue that current jurisprudence holding the prevention of voter fraud to be a compelling interest misunderstands the inherent means-ends distinction in voting rights standards. The prevention of voter …

Undue Deference To States In The 2020 Election Litigation, Joshua A. Douglas

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on so much of our lives, including how to run our elections. Yet the federal courts have refused to respond appropriately to the dilemma that many voters faced when trying to participate in the 2020 election. Instead, the courts—particularly the U.S. Supreme Court and the federal appellate courts—invoked a narrow test that unduly defers to state election administration and fails to protect adequately the fundamental right to vote.

In constitutional litigation, a law usually must satisfy a two-part test: (1) does the state have an appropriate reason for the law and (2) is the law properly …

Unequal Protection: Rethinking The Standards And Safeguards For Absentee Ballot Schemes, Kira M. Simon

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Death Of Non-Resident Contribution Limit Bans And The Birth Of The New Small, Swing State, George J. Somi

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District race in 2018 featured an eye-popping number: 96.7. That figure represents the percentage of candidate Maura Sullivan’s individual contributions derived from out-of-state, non–New Hampshire donors. In August 2018, of the $1.37 million USD of individual contributions that Sullivan had raised, only 3.3%—$46,648 USD—originated from in-state contributors. Sullivan had received individual donations amounting to $497,405 USD from Boston, $216,359 USD from New York City, $101,562 USD from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, and $92,371 USD from San Francisco.

In nearby Maine, campaign finance reports filed on October 15, 2019, with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) indicate …

Not Gill-Ty: Challenging And Providing A Workable Alternative To The Supreme Court's Gerrymandering Standing Analysis In Gill V. Whitford, Colin Neal

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Protecting The States From Electoral Invasions, Drew Marvel

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the threat of foreign interference in U.S. elections has loomed large in the minds of the American public. During the 2016 campaign season, Russian government-backed hackers infiltrated the networks and computers of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and various campaign officials, harvesting private information and installing spyware and malware for ongoing intelligence purposes. U.S. intelligence officials have indicated that, using similar tactics, the Russian hackers also targeted election systems and officials in all fifty states, successfully breaching at least two of those states’ election systems, Illinois and Florida. …

Puerto Rico, Inc.: Implicit Incorporation And Puerto Rico’S Right To Vote For Presidential Electors, Aaron Barden

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The 2016 Voting Wars: From Bad To Worse, Richard L. Hasen

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Incarcerated And Unrepresented: Prison-Based Gerrymandering And Why Evenwel’S Approval Of “Total Population” As A Population Base Shouldn’T Include Incarcerated Populations, Emily J. Heltzel

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

But First, (Don’T) Let Me Take A Selfie: New Hampshire’S Ban On Ballot Selfies And First Amendment Scrutiny, Emily Wagman

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Clearing The Political Thicket: Why Political Gerrymandering For Partisan Advantage Is Unconstitutional, Michael Parsons

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Unstable Footing: Shelby County’S Misapplication Of The Equal Footing Doctrine, Austin Graham

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Election Evidence: The Promises And Realities Of California's Citizen Commission, Brett Piersma

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Mrs. Mcintyre's Persona: Brining Privacy Theory To Election Law, William Mcgeveran

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Campaign Disclosure, Privacy And Transparency, Deborah G. Johnson, Priscilla M. Regan, Kent Wayland

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Two Challenges For Campaign Finance Disclosure After Citizens United And Doe V. Reed, Richard Briffault

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Online Behavioral Advertising And Deceptive Campaign Tactics: Policy Issues, Nichole Rustin-Paschal

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Anonymity And Democratic Citizenship, James A. Gardner

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Internet Voting, Security, And Privacy, Jeremy Epstein

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Election Period And Regulation Of The Democratic Process, Saul Zipkin

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Introduction: How We Vote: Electronic Voting And Other Voting Practices In The United States, Davison M. Douglas

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Voting System Risk Assessment Via Computational Complexity Analysis, Dan S. Wallach

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Any voting system must be designed to resist a variety of failures, ranging from inadvertent misconfiguration to intentional tampering. The problem with conducting analyses of these issues, particularly across widely divergent technologies, is that it is very difficult to make apples-to-apples comparisons. This paper considers the use of a standard technique used in the analysis of algorithms, namely complexity analysis with its "big-O" notation, which can provide a high-level abstraction that allows for direct comparisons across voting systems. We avoid the need for making unreliable estimates of the probability a system might be hacked or of the cost of bribing …

Voting Technology And The 2008 New Hampshire Primary, Michael C. Herron, Walter R. Mebane, Jonathan N. Wand

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Voter Registration And Election Reform, Daniel P. Tokaji

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Machine Errors And Undervotes In Florida 2006 Revisited, Walter R. Mebane

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

The 2006 election for U.S. House of Representatives District 13 in Sarasota County, Florida, attracted extensive controversy because an unusually high proportion of the ballots cast lacked a vote for that office, and the unusual number of undervotes probably changed the election outcome. Intensive technical studies based on examining software and hardware from the iVotronic touchscreen voting machines used to conduct the election failed to find mechanical flaws sufficient to explain the undervotes. Studies that examined the ballots used in Sarasota and in some other counties concluded the high undervote rate was caused by peculiar features of the ballot's format …

The Case Of The Disappearing Votes: Lessons From The Jennings V. Buchanan Congressional Election Contest, Jessica Ring Amunson, Sam Hirsch

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Early Voting Reforms And American Elections, Paul Gronke

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Enclave Districting, Henry L. Chambers

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Congressional districting has historically fostered single-member, geographically compact districts consisting of contiguous territory and has resulted in common representation for those who live near each other. Underlying compact districting is the assumption that people living relatively close together share political interests that can be adequately served by common representation. When the United States was a sparsely populated agrarian nation and only the propertied were the enfranchised, providing common representation based on residential proximity was sensible. Over time, however, the connection between residence and political interests has diminished.

In the wake of the Supreme Court's suggestion that representation should focus on …

Tyranny Of The Judiciary: Judicial Dilution Of Consent Under Section 2 Of The Voting Rights Act, James Thomas Tucker

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

"Every man takes the arm of the law for his protections as more effectual than his own, and therefore every man has an equal right in the formation of the government and of the laws by which he is to be governed and judged "' When Thomas Paine wrote these words over two hundred years ago, he captured the essence of American democracy. Having a voice in government means more than merely casting a ballot. Instead, the basic right of all qualified citizens to grant or withhold their consent mandates 'fair and effective representation ": a right to elect representatives …