Law Commons^™

The Appearance Of Election Law, John Nagle

John Copeland Nagle

The recent attention to election law implies that questions of reapportionment, voting rights, campaign finance, and the counting of votes belong to the same category of legal questions. In each instance, the evolving Supreme Court jurisprudence emphasizes appearances. The appearance of legislative districts, the appearance of corruption, and the appearance of partisanship are just some of the distinct ways in which the Court has concluded that appearance matter. As with other appearances, what looks to some observers like a gerrymandered district or a corrupting contribution is seen by others as a legitimate apportionment or an innocent expression of political support. …

Voluntary Campaign Finance Reform, John C. Nagle

John Copeland Nagle

No abstract provided.

Election Law Pleading, Joshua A. Douglas

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This Article explores how the Supreme Court’s recent pleading decisions in Twombly and Iqbal have impacted election litigation. It explains how Twombly and Iqbal’s “factual plausibility” standard usually does not help in an election case, because there is often little factual dispute regarding the operation of the election practice. Instead, the real question in a motion to dismiss is whether the plaintiff has stated a viable cause of action against the government defendant who is administering the election. But Twombly and Iqbal’s rule does not assist in answering this question. That is, Twombly and Iqbal are incongruent with …

The Foundational Importance Of Voting: A Response To Professor Flanders, Joshua A. Douglas

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Voting is the foundational concept for our entire democratic structure. We think of voting as a fundamental-the most fundamental-right in our democracy. When a group of citizens collectively elects its representatives, it affirms the notion that we govern ourselves by free choice. An individual's right to vote ties that person to our social order, even if that person chooses not to exercise that right. Voting represents the beginning; everything else in our democracy follows the right to vote. Participation is more than just a value. It is a foundational virtue of our democracy.

Professor Chad Flanders, in a thought-provoking contribution …

The Effects Of The Bi-Partisan Campaign Reform Act On The Process Of The Campaign Finance In The Presidential Nomination Process, Karen Sebold

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act increased the individual donor limit to $2,000 per candidate per election and indexed the limit for inflation every two years. The primary research question guiding this study is how has the increase in the donor limit affected donor behavior. Answering this question should allow a determination to be made about how donors have responded to the increased donor limit. Understanding how donors responded to the doubled limit is important because it provides evidence on the intersection of wealth inequality and political influence. To answer the research question this study considers how the increased donor limit …

Bush V. Gore: What Happened, And What Does The Supreme Court's New Equal Protection Standard Mean For State Election Officials?, Michael Louis Newman

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Discouraging Election Contests, Joshua A. Douglas

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This essay offers a few proposals for discouraging losing candidates from contesting the certified result of an election. The ultimate goal in any election, of course, is to ensure that a state declares as the winner the person who actually received the most votes. But when an election is close, a candidate on the losing side might see an incentive to continue the fight in the courts on the off-chance that it would change the outcome. The candidate could challenge, for example, certain provisional or absentee ballot—even if the likelihood that the candidate will win is slim (but still theoretically …

Tools To Fight Voter Suppression Still Are Needed, Alan E. Garfield

Alan E Garfield

No abstract provided.

Shelby County, Alabama V. Holder: Must Congress Update The Voting Rights Act’S Coverage Formula For Preclearance?, Michael Dimino

Michael R Dimino

No abstract provided.

Procedural Fairness In Election Contests, Joshua A. Douglas

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This Article uncovers the different mechanisms states use to resolve election contests. One universal rule regarding post-election disputes is that "[t]here is no common law basis for election challenges." As the Iowa Supreme Court explained, "[t]he right to contest an election is only conferred by statute, and contestants must strictly comply with the provisions of the statute in order to confer jurisdiction. Thus, contestants are limited to the scheme provided by the legislature." An inquiry into election contests therefore entails a survey of state election statutes and constitutions. Although it is possible that parties may file in federal court and …

The Brief History Of "Voter-Owned Elections" In Portland, Oregon: If Public Financing Can't Make It There, Can It Make It Anywhere?, Paul A. Diller

Paul Diller

From 2006 to 2010, Portland, Oregon, experimented with a publicly financed campaign system called "Voter-Owned Elections." In 2010, Portland's voters declined to renew the system. This article assesses Portland's experience with public financing and draws lessons therefrom that may inform efforts to promote public financing at the national, state, and local levels.

First Amendment And "Foreign-Controlled" U.S. Corporations: Why Congress Ought To Affirm Domestic Subsidiaries' Corporate Political-Speech Rights, Scott L. Friedman

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Political spending in the modern-day, prolonged election cycle continues to exceed historic proportions. With money equated to speech, whether the First Amendment entitles certain contributors to engage in this political activity remains an open question. Unlike France and Israel, which prohibit corporate contributions, and Canada and the United Kingdom, which turn to public funding for campaign finance, the United States has pushed candidates to rely on political party contributions, personal wealth, and the generosity of individuals, political action committees, and corporations. Concerns about corporate and foreign influence on politics have been especially salient during this lengthy economic downturn, as shown …

Procedural Fairness In Election Contests, Joshua A. Douglas

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

To Hava, And Beyond!, Joshua A. Douglas

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Book review of Martha Kropf and David C. Kimball, Helping America Vote: The Limits of Election Reform. New York, NY: Routledge, 2012, 154 pp., $41.95 (paperback).

Reimagining Democratic Inclusion: Asian Americans And The Voting Rights Act, Ming Hsu Chen, Taeku Lee

Publications

The current legal framework for protecting voting rights in the United States has been dramatically destabilized by Supreme Court decisions re-interpreting the protections against minority vote dilution and requires rethinking to survive modern challenges. At the same time, the nation has itself undergone dramatic changes in the racial composition of its polity and in the complexity and salience of race as a factor in political life. In this paper, we focus on a relatively unexamined constituent of this complex reality of modern racial diversity that illustrates some of the core features that all minority groups face in continuing VRA challenges: …