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Full-Text Articles in Law
Electoral Votes Regularly Given, Derek T. Muller
Electoral Votes Regularly Given, Derek T. Muller
Georgia Law Review
Every four years, Congress convenes to count presidential
electoral votes. In recent years, members of Congress have
objected or attempted to object to the counting of electoral votes
on the ground that those votes were not “regularly given.” That
language comes from the Electoral Count Act of 1887. But the
phrase “regularly given” is a term of art, best understood as
“cast pursuant to law.” It refers to controversies that arise after
the appointment of presidential electors, when electors cast
their votes and send them to Congress. Yet members of Congress
have incorrectly used the objection to challenge an assortment …
In Defense Of The Foundation Stone: Deterring Post-Election Abuse Of The Legal Process, Joyce G. Lewis, Adam M. Sparks
In Defense Of The Foundation Stone: Deterring Post-Election Abuse Of The Legal Process, Joyce G. Lewis, Adam M. Sparks
Georgia Law Review
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the American way of
life and revolutionized the way we vote. Record voter turnout in
2020, including among first-time voters and voters of color, was
met with unprecedented legal challenges seeking to nullify
millions of votes. A coordinated effort to amplify groundless
accusations of voting fraud, shorthanded as “the Big Lie,” was
advanced in multiple states through scores of lawsuits.
Although the cases themselves were dismissed as lacking merit
and as failing to state actionable claims, their impact upon
public confidence in free and fair elections was palpable and
the resources of the courts and …
Bring The Masks And Sanitizer: The Surprising Bipartisan Consensus About Safety Measures For In-Person Voting During The Coronavirus Pandemic, Joshua A. Douglas, Michael A. Zilis
Bring The Masks And Sanitizer: The Surprising Bipartisan Consensus About Safety Measures For In-Person Voting During The Coronavirus Pandemic, Joshua A. Douglas, Michael A. Zilis
Georgia Law Review
Requiring masks at the polls might implicate a clash
between two vital rights: the constitutional right to vote and the
right to protect one’s health. Yet the debate during the 2020
election over requirements to wear a mask at the polls obscured
one key fact: a majority of Americans supported a mask
mandate for voting. That is the new insight we provide in this
Essay: when surveyed, Americans strongly supported safety
measures for in-person voting, and that support was high
regardless of partisanship. One implication of our results is
that by making some widely supported safety modifications,
state election officials …
Minority Rights And The Electoral College: What Minority, Whose Rights?, David Schultz
Minority Rights And The Electoral College: What Minority, Whose Rights?, David Schultz
Georgia Law Review
The Electoral College as a method of selecting U.S.
presidents was allegedly set up to protect one type of minority
rights—those of slave states and small states—but over time
it has operated to deny the rights of racial and other minorities,
especially given the winner-take-all system of electoral vote
allocation used in forty-eight states. This Essay examines the
history and current operation of the Electoral College, detailing
how, despite its changes, it continues to privilege some forms of
minority rights at the expense of others. The Essay also
indicates how in its current form in forty-eight states, the
Electoral College …
The Voting Rights Paradox: Ideology And Incompleteness Of American Democratic Practice, Atiba R. Ellis
The Voting Rights Paradox: Ideology And Incompleteness Of American Democratic Practice, Atiba R. Ellis
Georgia Law Review
This Essay describes the “voting rights paradox”—the fact
that despite America’s professed commitment to universal
enfranchisement, voting rights legislation throughout U.S.
history has arisen in some states to serve antidemocratic,
exclusionary ends. This Essay argues that this contradiction
comes into focus when the right to vote is understood as having
as an ideological driving force based on worthiness for
admission to the franchise. This ideology of worthiness persists
because the right to vote is dependent on political decisions left
to the political branches and the majority’s willingness to allow
propaganda to influence the scope of the franchise.
Ultimately, this Essay …