State of Elections

William & Mary Law School | Election Law Society

Archives for February 2010

Weekly Wrap Up

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Every week, State of Elections brings you the latest news in election law.

– The Hawaiian Office of Elections has set May 22nd as their target date for a special election to replace Congressman Neil Abercrombie.  Due to that state’s budget troubles, the election will be held entirely by mail. For an overview of Hawaii’s recent election problems, go here.

– Senators Chris Dodd and Tom Udall have proposed a constitutional amendment to overrule the Citizens United decision.  The amendment would allow the federal and state governments to place limits on the amount of contributions that can be made to a candidate and on the amount of expenditures that can be made by a candidate.

– A Georgia program for verifying voters’ citizenship has ruffled some feathers over at the Department of Justice.  Under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, the DOJ has the right to stop any state election administration laws from taking effect.  The DOJ has objected to the Georgian program, as it claims the state has not demonstrated that the program does not have a discriminatory purpose.

– The ALCU has appealed a federal court ruling that upheld Montana’s ballot access laws.  Independent candidates seeking to run for statewide office in Montana must meet some of the stringent requirements in the country, including an early filing deadline and steep filing fees.

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Interview with Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie

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Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie

Mark Ritchie,  the 21st Minnesota Secretary of State, oversaw the state-wide recount of the 2008 U.S. Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken.  After the official canvass of votes following the 2008 election, the margin separating the top two candidates was less than .5% of votes cast, triggering a mandatory recount.  Ritchie, as chair of the State Canvassing Board, oversaw the recount.  The widely publicized recount took 47 days. Under Minnesota law, the candidate losing a recount has a right to judicial review. Norm Coleman did request a judicial review, a process that took an additional six months.

State of Elections co-editor Laura Deneke recently spoke with Sec. Ritchie regarding the state’s electoral process.  [Read more…] about Interview with Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie

The Legislature Strikes Back: Citizen Initiatives in Washington State

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Initiative proponent/Dark Lord of the Sith Tim Eyman appears in front of the Washington Secretary of State’s Office

This past January, for the second time in two years, a bill has been filed with the Washington State legislature to amend the State Constitution, removing the provisions allowing for citizen initiatives and referendums.  If passed by the state legislature, the measure would be sent to the voters for their approval at the next general election.  Citizen initiatives are the process by which citizens and nongovernmental organizations can directly propose legislation. If the proposed legislature receives a certain number of signatures (a number equal to 8% of the voters in the previous gubernatorial election), the proposal is then voted on by the people of the state, completely bypassing the legislature. Referenda require fewer signatures, but the proposed legislation must still be voted on by the legislature.

The bill, proposed by state Senator Ken Jacobsen, would remove the entirety of Article II, Section 1 of the Washington Constitution, as well as other sections that acknowledge the initiative and referendum process.   The initiative process is constantly being challenged by lawmakers, and this bill is just the latest debate in a long battle in a number of states, mostly in the West, where the use of initiatives is common.  Proponents of citizen initiatives argue that they are vitally important to ensuring the people have a say in their own government, while opponents argue that they interfere with the functioning of the legislature and government.

The initiative process has often been seen as the purest form of direct democracy, giving the most voice to individual citizens. Tim Eyman, intuitive guru and anti-tax crusader, had harsh words for Jacobsen and his initiative, as well the sponsors of other bills that would regulate the signature-gathering and initiative-filing process. Eyman calls the bill a “legislative jihad”, and claims that Ken Jacobson “is the most honest elected official on this issue. He’s openly pushing to take our rights away from us. The sponsors of the other anti-initiative bills…hide their opposition and seek to impose unneeded, costly requirements on citizens so as to effectively repeal the initiative process with a stealth “regulate to death” strategy.” [Read more…] about The Legislature Strikes Back: Citizen Initiatives in Washington State

Weekly Wrap Up

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Every week, State of Elections brings you the latest news in election law.

– The Alabama House is considering a bill that would require voters to present a photo ID before voting.

– According to a Washington Post – ABC  poll, 80% of Americans oppose the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United.  65% say they strongly oppose the ruling.

– Project Vote and Advancement Project,  two voter protection organizations, have filed a lawsuit against Virginia election officials for failing to provide access to rejected voter registration applications.  The organizations heard reports about unusually large numbers of rejected voter registration applications from Norfolk State University, a historically black college, and asked to review those applications to determine if qualified voters were being unlawfully rejected.  A Virginia law prohibits the disclosure of those records, and so the state refused to disclose the registration applications.  Project Vote and the Advancement Project believe that the Virginia law is a violation of the National Voter Registration Act.

– Hans A. von Spakovsky has posted an editorial discussing the recent redistricting lawsuit in Texas.   For a brief summary of the lawsuit, see our previous Weekly Wrap Up.

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Election Law Society Symposium!

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Every year, the William & Mary Election Law Society holds a Symposium to discuss a pressing election law issue.  This year is no different.  The Election Law Society is proud to announce its fourth annual Election Law Symposium, “Back to the Drawing Board: The 2010 Census and the Politics of Redistricting.”  Here’s the official blurb:

Symposium

Speakers at previous Election Law Symposiums have included Robert Bauer, President Obama’s personal attorney, longtime chief election lawyer for the Democratic Party, and current White House Counsel; Benjamin Ginsberg, previously chief counsel for the Bush-Cheney Presidential Campaigns and current partner at Patton Boggs LLP; Michael Toner, former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission and current head of the Election Law and Government Ethics Practice at Bryan Cave LLP, and numerous other distinguished speakers.

If you’re interested in coming or have questions you’d like asked to the panelists, please email us for more information at editor@stateofelections.com

http://stateofelections.pages.wm.edu/2010/02/17/election-law-society-symposium/

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