Election Law Commons^™

Importing Democracy: Can Lessons Learned From Germany, India, And Australia Help Reform The American Electoral System?, Amanda Kelley Myers

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Increasing Youth Participation: The Case For A National Voter Pre-Registration Law, Ceridwen Cherry

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Lagging youth participation rates threaten participatory democracy and undermine the representation of young people's interests in elected government. However, the percentage of registered youth who actually cast ballots is very high. The correlation between registration and actual voter participation suggests that when given assistance and greater opportunities to register, young citizens will vote. This Note proposes a national pre-registration law that would allow voter registration to begin at age sixteen. Such a law would be feasible, constitutional, and politically viable and may increase not only the voter participation of young people, but also the socioeconomic diversity of the electorate.

The Value Of A By-Election, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Assistant Professor of Law Eugene K B Tan argues that if Parliament eventually determines that the Hougang seat has been vacated with the expulsion of Mr Yaw Shin Leong from the Workers' Party (WP), the spotlight will shift to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who will advise the President whether to issue an election writ stipulating when a by-election is to be held.

A Tilt In Favour Of The Older Generation, Less Fortunate, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Assistant Professor of Law Eugene Tan writes that although there are generally no significant handouts, offsets or goodies, Budget 2012 addresses some of the key genuine concerns of Singaporeans during the May 2011 General Election. It is also expected to generate a surplus of S$1.3 billion at a time when many advanced economies are in recession and with significant deficits.

"Like" Your President: A Case For Online Voting, Jeremy Garson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Caveat

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey allowed displaced residents to vote in the 2012 elections by email. The option to vote online has been available to military members stationed overseas since 2009. New Jersey’s decision to open online voting to civilians raises the question of why this shift didn’t take place sooner. Assuming New Jersey’s system holds up under post-election scrutiny, why not utilize it to the fullest extent possible? Online voter registration is already permitted by eleven states, including the liberal, infrastructure-rich, population-heavy California and the conservative, sparsely populated Alaska. Extending the registration system to voting itself …

Judicial Retention Elections, The Rule Of Law, And The Rhetorical Weakness Of Consequentialism, Todd E. Pettys

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Assembly Committee On Elections And Redistricting Summary Of Legislation 2012, Assembly Committee On Elections And Redistricting

California Assembly

No abstract provided.

Un Garantismo En Tensión. La Primera Integración Del Tepjf Y El Control Jurisdiccional De La Vida Interna De Los Partidos Políticos, Javier Martín Reyes

Javier Martín Reyes

A Guarantism in Tension. The First TEPJF and the Judicial Review of the Parties’ Internal Life

Between 1997 and 2003, in a series of relevant cases, the first Electoral Court of the Federal Judicial Branch (TEPJF) gradually increased its capacity to adjudicate intraparty disputes. Over time, several authors have argued that these cases were inspired by the judicial doctrine developed by Luigi Ferrajoli, the “guarantism” (garantismo). However, this literature rarely provides evidence to show that the opinions of the TEPJF were consistent with this judicial doctrine. Precisely, this paper seeks to evaluate the decisions of the Electoral Court based upon …

El Tribunal De Los Militantes: El Control Judicial De Los Conflictos Intrapartidistas En México, Javier Martín Reyes

Javier Martín Reyes

The Party Members’ Court: Judicial Control over Intraparty Disputes in Mexico.

This paper explains how the Electoral Court of the Federal Judicial Branch (TEPJF) of Mexico, without a supporting legislation, was able to establish a direct and far reaching control over intraparty disputes such as the election of party leaders, the selection of candidates, or the punishment of party members. Following a strategic behavior approach, I will provide empirical evidence to prove that there was a negative correlation between the level of judicial control over the parties’ internal life, on the one hand, and the vulnerability of the TEPJF from …

De Jueces, Militantes Y Dirigencias Partidistas. Un Panorama Cuantitativo Del Control Jurisdiccional De Los Conflictos Intrapartidistas En México (1996-2006), Javier Martín Reyes

Javier Martín Reyes

Of Judges, Militants, and Bosses: A Quantitative Overview of the Judicial Review of Intraparty Disputes in Mexico (1996-2006) Aunque diversos trabajos han estudiado el origen y evolución del control jurisdiccional de la vida interna de los partidos políticos por parte del Tribunal Electoral del Poder Judicial de la Federación (TEPJF), lo cierto es que los estudios cuantitativos son prácticamente inexistentes. Hace falta, incluso, la información más indispensable para aproximarse empíricamente al fenómeno: el número y tipo de conflictos intrapartidistas que se han presentado a lo largo del tiempo; su distribución geográfica y por partido político; la forma en que se …

Regulating From Typewriters In An Internet Age: The Development & Regulation Of Mass Media Usage In Presidential Campaigns, Anthony J. King

Anthony J. King

The American election process has become a misleading process of campaign promises and self-promotion, thus diluting its primary and most fundamental purpose. This discrepancy can be traced to three primary groups; (1) the candidates, who supplied the motive; (2) the mass media, who supplied the means; and (3) the electorate, who so far have allowed it to happen. Seeking to remedy the situation lawmakers have turned to regulations of the media in attempt to assure fairness and nurture the marketplace of ideas. These numerous attempts at fairness have been met with a mixed reception and mixed results leading to questions …

Keeping American Elections Afloat: Why Citizens United Should Be Abandoned And The Floodgates Should Be Closed, Richard L. Mafrica

Richard L Mafrica

No abstract provided.

Отзыв Депутата Представительного Органа: Соотношение Политической И Конституционной Ответственности, Leonid G. Berlyavskiy, Nickolay Taraban

Leonid G. Berlyavskiy

Formation of democratic bases of the public power demands increase of level of political and legal responsibility before the people. One of the forms of such responsibility is the reсall of selected persons. The voters allocated with the active suffrage should have possibility to withdraw the representatives

Clinton, Campaigns, And Corporate Expenditures: The Supreme Court's Recent Decision In Citizen's United And Its Impact On Corporate Political Influence, Glen M. Vogel

Glen M Vogel

The public’s ability to discuss and debate the character and fitness of presidential candidates is at the core of the First Amendment’s prohibition that “Congress shall make no law… abridging the Freedom of Speech.” Despite the existence of this fundamental right, articulated so eloquently in our founding document, in November of 2002, Congress made political speech a felony for one class of speakers – corporations and unions. Under the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Law, corporations and unions were prohibited from spending their own funds in support of or against a candidate for political office. Violators of this ban faced up …

Voting Technology And The Quest For Trustworthy Elections, S. Candice Hoke

S. Candice Hoke

This chapter reviews four dimensions of the still-unresolved voting technology quandary. It begins by briefly reviewing the Florida Bush v. Gore background that, combined with the tradition of state governmental control over election administration, spawned the contours and limitations of new federal regulatory apparatus. It also surveys some illustrative voting system malfunctions and their consequences surfacing predominantly from 2009–12.

The second part of this chapter, Federal Compulsion to Adopt Software-Based Voting Technologies, explains the misconceptions about software and digital equipment that led to both the flawed federal mandates and the ineffectual regulatory structure.

The third part of this chapter, Litigation …

Defining Corruption And Constitutionalizing Democracy, Deborah Hellman

Faculty Scholarship

The central front in the battle over campaign finance laws is the definition of corruption. The Supreme Court has allowed restrictions on giving and spending money in connection with elections only when they serve to avoid corruption or its appearance. The constitutionality of such laws, therefore, depends on how the Court defines corruption. Over the years, campaign finance cases have conceived of corruption in both broad and narrow terms, with the most recent cases defining it especially narrowly. While supporters and critics of campaign finance laws have argued for and against these different formulations, both sides have missed the more …

Voting Technology And The Quest For Trustworthy Elections, Candice Hoke

Law Faculty Contributions to Books

This chapter reviews four dimensions of the still-unresolved voting technology quandary. It begins by briefly reviewing the Florida Bush v. Gore background that, combined with the tradition of state governmental control over election administration, spawned the contours and limitations of new federal regulatory apparatus. It also surveys some illustrative voting system malfunctions and their consequences surfacing predominantly from 2009–12.

The second part of this chapter, Federal Compulsion to Adopt Software-Based Voting Technologies, explains the misconceptions about software and digital equipment that led to both the flawed federal mandates and the ineffectual regulatory structure.

The third part of this chapter, Litigation …

Election Law As Applied Democratic Theory, James A. Gardner

Journal Articles

Democracy does not implement itself; a society’s commitment to govern itself democratically can be effectuated only through law. Yet as soon as law appears on the scene significant choices must be made concerning the legal structure of democratic institutions. The heart of the study of election law is thus the examination of the choices that our laws make in seeking to structure a workable system of democratic self-rule. In this essay, written for a symposium on Teaching Election Law, I describe how my Election Law course and materials focus on questions of choice in institutional design by emphasizing election law’s …

Resolving Disputed Elections Through Negotiation, Rishi Batra

Faculty Articles

Could a disputed election—one in which the winner is not clear and the result is within the "margin of litigation"—be resolved through a negotiated result? Given the "winner take all" nature of these elections, where one candidate ends up holding the office, and all others do not, it would seem that negotiated solutions and other alternative dispute resolution techniques would have no application. This article explores why self-interested candidates and their associated parties may be interested in a negotiated outcome, what the scope of such an agreement could look like, and how to overcome barriers to such a negotiated result.

Protecting The Democratic Process In Indian Country Through Election Monitoring: A Solution To Tribal Election Disputes, Derek H. Ross

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.