Election Law Commons^™

Transparency Rules In U.S. Elections Need Updating To Reflect 21st Century Realities, Rebecca Green

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Mccutcheon V. Federal Election Commission, Stephen M. Degenaro

Notre Dame Law Review Reflection

McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission involved a challenge to limits imposed on the amount a donor may contribute during a single election cycle. In McCutcheon, the Court was presented with the question of whether the aggregate limits placed on contributions to candidate and noncandidate committees either lacked a cognizable constitutional interest or were unconstitutionally too low. In a five to four decision, the Supreme Court held that the aggregate limits on campaign contributions burden substantial First Amendment rights without furthering a permissible government interest.

Rethinking Transparency In U.S. Elections, Rebecca Green

Faculty Publications

Bush v. Gore catapulted this country into a crisis of confidence in the management of our elections. Despite reforms since 2000, public confidence in election administration continues to wane. Are dead people on the rolls? Are noncitizens voting? Are provisional ballots wrongly rejected? State election transparency statutes meant to reassure the public that elections are producing legitimate results are often conflicting, vague, and even nonexistent. Exacerbating the problem, the last two decades have witnessed huge changes that offset the transparency balance. Dramatic changes in how Americans vote, how elections are administered, and who scrutinizes the election process call for a …

A Recount Of The Recount: Obenshain V. Herring, Hon. Beverly Snukals, Maggie Bowman

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

On The Road To Watershed Hustings, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law and former Nominated Member of Parliament Eugene Tan noted that with just 23 months left in the 12th Parliament's five-year term, the next polls, which will have to be held by Jan 9, 2017, promise to be the watershed general election. He also commented that it will almost certainly be a straight fight between the ruling People's Action Party and the Workers' Party, providing some indication of whether Singapore is evolving from a one-party dominant to a two-party political system.

Reply Brief For Appellants. Alabama Legislative Black Caucus V. Alabama, 135 S.Ct. 1257 (2015) (No. 13-895), 2014 Wl 5475026, Eric Schnapper, James U. Blacksher, Edward Still, U.W. Clemon

Court Briefs

No abstract provided.

The Meme Of Voter Fraud, Atiba R. Ellis

Catholic University Law Review

The meme of voter fraud is the idea that unworthy voters are attacking the electoral system by voting fraudulently through impersonation or other bad acts. Although scholars of election law aptly demonstrate that the meme is a myth, the meme nonetheless endures as a rationale for the continued passage of heightened voter regulations like voter identification laws. Scholarship critiquing the voter fraud meme relies on partisanship as the prime explanation for voter fraud arguments. This explanation is incomplete in light of the fact that proponents of the myth continue to believe it on an ideological level even when the lack …

Financing Elections And "Appearance Of Corruption": Citizen Attitudes And Behavior In 2012, Molly J. Walker Wilson

Catholic University Law Review

As political spending reaches new highs in the 2012 election cycle, and as the controversy surrounding wealthy donors and interest groups grows, polls demonstrate a surge of cynicism among Americans who profess a belief that the American political system is corrupt. The Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United made possible the most recent expansion of political spending. In this case, the question was whether allowing corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of money on political advertising would result in corruption or the appearance of corruption. The majority on the Court determined that it would not. Many observers have …

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

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Nudging Ballot? A Response To Professor Foley, Lisa Marshall Manheim

Articles

In a response to Professor Edward Foley's The Speaking Ballot: A New Way to Foster Equality of Campaign Discourse [89 N.Y.U. L. Rev. Online 52 (2014)], Professor Manheim notes that "the speaking ballot may, in fact, affect elections, that influence may be due less to a flourishing of informed and reasoned debate and more to the exploitation of subtle forms of voter manipulation." She raises questions about the decisions faced by election officials on candidate photographs and videos and timing of updated videos. She concludes: "In short, Professor Foley, through his call for the facilitation, rather than the limitation, of …

Stop This Insanity, Inc., Et Al., Petitioners, V. Federal Election Commission, Respondent: Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari, Patricia E. Roberts, Tillman J. Breckenridge, Dan Backer

Appellate and Supreme Court Clinic

No abstract provided.

The Honduran Constitution Is Not A Suicide Pact: The Legality Of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya's Removal, Frank M. Walsh

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Judicial Diversity After Shelby County V. Holder, William Roth

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

In 2014, voters in ten of the fifteen states previously covered by the Voting Rights Act ("VRA") preclearance formula-including six of the nine states covered in their entirety-will go to the polls to elect or retain state supreme court justices. Yet despite the endemic underrepresentation of minorities on state benches and the judiciary's traditional role in fighting discrimination, scholars have seemingly paid little attention to how Shelby County v. Holder's suspension of the coverage formula in section 4(b) has left racial minorities vulnerable to retrogressive changes to judicial-election laws. The first election year following Shelby County thus provides a compelling …

Brief For Appellants. Alabama Legislative Black Caucus V. Alabama, 135 S.Ct. 1257 (2015) (No. 13-895), 2014 Wl 4059779, Eric Schnapper, James U. Blacksher, Edward Still, U.W. Clemon

Court Briefs

QUESTION PRESENTED

Whether Alabama’s legislative redistricting plans unconstitutionally classify black voters by race by intentionally packing them in districts designed to maintain supermajority percentages produced when 2010 census data are applied to the 2001 majority-black districts.

Better Safe Than Sorry: How Strong Voter Identification Laws Can Protect Louisianans Against The Double-Sided Coin Of Voter Disenfranchisement, Julia D'Hemecourt

Louisiana Law Review

The author comments on the importance of strengthening voter identification laws in Louisiana. Topics discussed include the occurrence of voter disenfranchisement in the state, the implication of voter fraud for political elections, and the legislation concerning voter's identification and protection of voter's rights.

Expensive Free Speech: Western Tradition Partnership And The Silencing Of The Private Attorney General Doctrine, Jesse Kodadek

Montana Law Review

Expensive Free Speech: Western Tradition Partnership And The Silencing Of The Private Attorney General Doctrine

The Ceo And The Hydraulics Of Campaign Finance Deregulation, Sarah Jane C. Haan

NULR Online

No abstract provided.

Campaign Finance And Political Gerrymandering Decisions In The October 2005 Term, Burt Neuborne

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Constitutional Structure Of Voting Rights Enforcement, Franita Tolson

Washington Law Review

Scholars and courts have hotly debated whether the preclearance regime of the Voting Rights Act is constitutional under the Reconstruction Amendments. In answering this question, this Article is the first to consider the effect of section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment on the scope of Congress’s enforcement authority. Section 2 allows Congress to reduce the size of a state’s delegation in the House of Representatives if the state abridges the right to vote in state and federal elections for any reason, “except for participation in rebellion, or other crime.” This Article contends that section 2 influences the scope of congressional …

The Constitutional Structure Of Voting Rights Enforcement, Franita Tolson

Washington Law Review

Scholars and courts have hotly debated whether the preclearance regime of the Voting Rights Act is constitutional under the Reconstruction Amendments. In answering this question, this Article is the first to consider the effect of section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment on the scope of Congress’s enforcement authority. Section 2 allows Congress to reduce the size of a state’s delegation in the House of Representatives if the state abridges the right to vote in state and federal elections for any reason, “except for participation in rebellion, or other crime.” This Article contends that section 2 influences the scope of congressional …

Chasing The Sunlight: Disclosure Of Corporate Contributions To Political Action Committees In Nevada After Citizens United, Wade Beavers

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Shelby And Section 3: Pulling The Voting Rights Act’S Pocket Trigger To Protect Voting Rights After Shelby County V. Holder, Paul M. Wiley

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Appellate Division, Third Department, Avella V. Batt, Danielle D'Abate

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Dismissing Deterrence, Ellen D. Katz

Articles

The proposed Voting Rights Amendment Act of 20144 (VRAA)[...]’s new criteria defining when jurisdictions become subject to preclearance are acutely responsive to the concerns articulated in Shelby County[ v. Holder]. The result is a preclearance regime that, if enacted, would operate in fewer places and demand less from those it regulates. This new regime, however, would not only be more targeted and less powerful, but, curiously, more vulnerable to challenge. In fact, the regime would be more vulnerable precisely because it is so responsive to Shelby County. Some background will help us see why.

The Transformative Twelfth Amendment, Joshua D. Hawley

Faculty Publications

This paper argues that the Twelfth Amendment represents far more than a mechanical adjustment of the electoral college. Rather, it is the constitutional text that gives us the political presidency that we know today. The Twelfth Amendment worked a major structural change in the relationship between the legislative and executive branches and for that reason bears directly on the debate over the unitary executive and the meaning of “executive power.” Specifically, presidential removal power is best justified not by the original Article II, but by the constitutional structure the Twelfth Amendment created. And the scope and definition of executive power …

A Tale Of Two Minority Groups: Can Two Different Minority Groups Bring A Coalition Suit Under Section 2 Of The Voting Rights Act Of 1965, Sara Michaloski

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Fiscal Cliff As Reelection Strategy: Rethinking The Temporary Taxation Debate, Frank Fagan

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Contracting Around "Citizens United", Ganesh Sitaraman

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC is widely considered a major roadblock for campaign finance reform, and particularly for limiting third party spending in federal elections. In response to the decision, commentators, scholars, and activists have outlined a wide range of legislative and regulatory proposals to limit the influence of third party spending, including constitutional amendments, public financing programs, and expanded disclosure rules. To date, however, they have not considered the possibility that third party spending can be restrained by a self-enforcing private contract between the opposing campaigns. This Essay argues that private ordering, rather than public …

Evaluating Candidacy Restrictions: The Implications Of New York's Modified Approach, Brian Hodgkinson

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Party-Based Corruption And Mccutcheon V. Fec, Michael S. Kang

NULR Online

No abstract provided.