Election Law Commons^™

The Geopolitics Of Election Approval: The Us Response To Honduras And Venezuela, Lauren Carasik, Susan Scott, Azadeh Shahshahani

Media Presence

No abstract provided.

The Incompatible Treatment Of Majorities In Election Law And Deliberative Democracy, James A. Gardner

Journal Articles

Deliberative democracy offers a distinctive and appealing conception of political life, but is it one that might be called into service to guide actual reform of existing election law? This possibility seems remote because election law and deliberative democracy are built around different priorities and theoretical premises. A foundational area of disagreement lies in the treatment of majorities. Election law is structured, at both the legislative and constitutional levels, so as to privilege majorities and systematically to magnify their power, whereas deliberative democracy aims at privileging minorities (or at least de-privileging majorities). The main purpose of the election law now …

Honduras’ Presidential Election Demands An Investigation, Lauren Carasik, Azadeh Shahshahani

Media Presence

No abstract provided.

State Session Freeze Laws—Potential Solution Or Unconstitutional Restriction?, Dru Swaim

Seattle University Law Review

Since the Citizens United decision in 2010 reduced Congress’s ability to constitutionally regulate money in elections, proponents of campaign finance reform have looked for alternative ways to achieve the goals of greater transparency and reduce the amount of money spent in federal elections. In the three years since Citizens United, the amount of money spent in federal campaigns has increased exponentially. In fact, the total amount of money spent in federal elections has nearly doubled since 2000. Citizens United represents a serious blow to the traditional methods used to restrict the amount of money in politics: limitations on the amounts …

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 …

Electoral Competition In Connecticut's State House Races: The Trial Run Of The Citizens' Election Program, Lesley A. Denardis

Political Science & Global Affairs Faculty Publications

The Citizens Election Fund, Connecticut's version of a clean elections law, was established in 2005 in the wake of the corruption scandal during the administration of Governor John Rowland. Modeled after the public financing systems of Maine and Arizona, Connecticut's law has been touted as the most comprehensive in the nation. This paper will address whether the introduction of the Citizens' Election Program has increased the level of electoral competition by specifically focusing on state house seats in Connecticut during the 2008 and 2010 election cycles. Contestation for seats in the Connecticut General Assembly is a particularly salient issue due …

Unfinished Business: Protecting Voting Rights In The Twenty-First Century, Gilda R. Daniels

All Faculty Scholarship

While minorities have experienced great progress because of the Voting Rights Act, particularly section 5 of the Act, the work to achieve an electoral process free of discrimination remains unfinished. In Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court struck down section 4 of the Act, which provided the coverage formula through which section 5 was implemented. Without section 4, there is no section 5. The historical and contemporaneous discrimination that minorities in states formerly covered under section 5 continue to face is substantial and outpaces that in noncovered states. Scholars cannot divorce the debate surrounding section 5’s constitutionality, which continues …

Ometz – Citizens For Proper Administration And Social Justice In Israel V. Rochberger, Miriam Naor, Neal Hendel, Elyakim Rubinstein, Zvi Zylbertal, Esther Hayut, Edna Arbel, Asher Grunis

Translated Opinions

[This abstract is not part of the Court's opinion and is provided for the reader's convenience. It has been translated from a Hebrew version prepared by Nevo Press Ltd. and is used with its kind permission.]

Indictments were filed against Mr. Shimon Gapso, the Mayor of Nazareth Illit and Mr. Itzhak Rochberger, the Mayor of Ramat HaSharon. Mr. Gapso is accused of taking a bribe. Mr. Rochberger is accused of falsifying corporate documents and of fraud and violation of trust in a corporation. The city council of Nazareth Illit has decided, in a majority vote, not to relieve Mr. Gapso …

Friends With Benefits: Measuring Corruption In Politics After Citizens United, Patrick Eoghan Murray

North Carolina Central Law Review

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.

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 …

Democracy And The Right To Vote: Rethinking Democratic Rights Under The Charter, Yasmin Dawood

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article addresses the Supreme Court of Canada’s theory of democracy and the right to vote. After setting forth the Court’s general approach to democracy, I develop a new conceptual framework for the Court’s approach to democratic rights. First, I argue that the Court has adopted a “bundle of democratic rights” approach to the right to vote. By this I mean that the Court has interpreted the right to vote as consisting of multiple democratic rights, each of which is concerned with a particular facet of democratic governance. Second, I claim that the democratic rights recognized by the Court are …

The "Nixon Sabotage": The Political Origins Of The Equal Protection Challenge To The Voting Rights Act, Danieli Evans

Articles

Critics of the Voting Rights Act argue that the anti-discrimination law requires states to engage in unconstitutional discrimination, as state decisionmakers must be conscious of race in order to ensure that voting policies do not weaken minority representation. This argument relies on the idea that subjective racial motivation is the essence of unconstitutional discrimination (even if benevolent, or to promote racial inclusion). The conventional understanding among constitutional scholars is that this “search for the bigoted decisionmaker” developed in employment and housing discrimination decisions between 1976 and 1979. Previous accounts have not recognized the role that the 1971 school desegregation decision …

Lining Up: Ensuring Equal Access To Vote, Gilda R. Daniels

All Faculty Scholarship

This booklet ( a joint project of the Advancement Project and the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law) provides an extensive overview of restrictive voting laws, especially concerning minority voters. Daniels begins with a summary of voter obstructions and intimidation in the 2012 election, and then places that within the context of the history of voting and race in America.

Most recently, the Section 5 protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were effectively removed by the Shelby County v. Holder Supreme Court decision. Daniels then explains what this means practically and legally for minority voters and how …

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 …

Reichert V. State Ex Rel. Mcculloch And The Open Door For Increased Pre-Election Substantive Judicial Review, Carina Wilmot

Montana Law Review

In Reichert v. State ex rel. McCulloch,1 the Montana Supreme Court addressed the constitutionality of a legislative referendum proposing changes to the qualification and selection of Montana Supreme Court justices. In reviewing the referendum, the Court focused on the threshold issues of ripeness and recusal before addressing its constitutionality.2 Reichert highlights the complexity of ripeness as a threshold question and clarifies when and how the Court conducts pre-election judicial review.

This note focuses only on the procedural holding of ripeness, from which Justice Baker dissented. This note does not analyze judicial recusal or the constitutionality or severability of the referendum …

Stop This Insanity, Inc., Et Al., Appellants, V. Federal Election Commission, Appellee: Reply Brief Of Appellants, Dan Backer, Patricia E. Roberts, Tillman J. Breckenridge, Tara A. Brennan

Appellate and Supreme Court Clinic

No abstract provided.

Identification Problems And Voting Obstacles For Transgender Americans, James A. Haynes

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

Defining Corruption And Constitutionalizing Democracy, Deborah Hellman

Michigan Law Review

The central front in the battle over campaign finance laws is the definition of corruption. The Supreme Court has allowed restrictions on the giving and spending of money in connection with elections only when they serve to avoid corruption or the appearance of corruption. 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 …

Section 501(C)(4) Advocacy Organizations: Political Candidate-Related And Other Partisan Activities In Furtherance Of The Social Welfare, Terence Dougherty

Seattle University Law Review

In the wake of the 2012 presidential election, tax and political law lawyers are left with a number of unanswered questions concerning the political activities of tax-exempt organizations. Despite the importance of these questions, there are striking gaps in the authority of federal tax law governing the conduct of political candidate and other partisan-related activities by tax-exempt organizations. Assuming activities in furtherance of partisan interests are activities that support private interests, I consider what this authority may tell us about the permissibility of Section 501(c)(4) organizations engaging in partisan political activities and having as a constitutive purpose a partisan political …

Considering The Gerrymander , Leroy C. Hardy

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Analysis On The Effects Of Voter Id Laws And Minnesota’S Decision To Vote Against It, Amy Asell

Political Science Theses and Capstones

In recent years, the topic of voter identification has been a hotly contested issue in state legislatures around the country. Since 2003, nearly 1,000 bills concerning voter ID have been introduced in a total of forty-six states. In 2012 alone, voter ID legislation was pending in thirty-three states. On November 6, 2012, the citizens of the state of Minnesota voted on whether they supported an amendment to the state Constitution that would require all voters to present a valid photo ID in order to vote. Despite poll numbers indicating that a majority of Minnesotans supported the amendment the voter ID …

Election Delays In 2012, Rebecca Green, Emily Lippolis, Shanna Reulbach, Andrew Mccoy

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Stop This Insanity, Inc., Et Al., Appellants, V. Federal Election Commission, Appellee: Brief Of Appellants, Dan Backer, Patricia E. Roberts, Jessica L. Delaney, Bryan U. Gividen, Tillman J. Breckenridge

Appellate and Supreme Court Clinic

No abstract provided.

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.

Consider The Source: A Note On Public-Sector Union Expenditure Restrictions Upheld In Davenport V. Washington Education Association, Daniel A. Himebaugh

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Post Citizen United: The Lack Of Political Accountability And Rise Of Voter Suppression In A Time Of Newly Defined Corruption, Hannah S. Fullerton

Scripps Senior Theses

In 2010, our definition of democracy in America was drastically changed by the Supreme Court case Citizens United v. FEC. The Court ruled that under the First Amendment, corporations have the right to free speech. The decision removed the final ban on corporations, which prohibited corporate money used for direct advocacy. The consequences of this have been tremendous. The decision has allowed for the creation and rise of Super PACs and political active nonprofits. As a result, Super PACs and nonprofits now act as “shadow campaigns”. Outside groups have the ability to engage in voter suppression tactics without politically hurting …

Buying A Judicial Seat For Appeal: Caperton V. A.T. Massey Coal Company, Inc., Is Right Out Of A John Grisham Novel, Richard Gillespie

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Citizens United: A World Of Full Disclosure, Maxfield Marquardt

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 …