State of Elections

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Election Law Society

The Bizarre History of Election Law: The Camden Election Riots of 1870

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Election law has certainly earned its eccentric reputation.  From zombie voters to hanging chads, the strange history of modern election law has become ingrained in the public consciousness.  But, as odd as the last decade has been, the previous centuries of election law have been even more bizarre.  So, in this series of articles, State of Elections will take a closer look at some of the stranger moments in election law.

In the previous “bizarre history” article, we discussed the various (and often hilarious) irregularities of  Siskiyou County’s school superintendent election.  Today, we are going to take a more solemn look at one of the strangest and most brutal attempts to disenfranchise black voters in American history.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, Camden County New Jersey was a hotbed of racial strife.  The black population of the county grew dramatically, as former slaves left their plantations and moved up North.  As the black population 316px-Map_of_New_Jersey_highlighting_Camden_County.svggrew, so did the anger of certain elements within the white community. This tension between the whites and blacks in Camden County came to a head during the 1870 Congressional election.  For many of the newly freed slaves, it would be their first time voting.  In Centreville, a small town in Camden County, whites feared that this sudden influx of freed slaves would have an irrevocable impact on local politics. So, they formed a mob and marched down to the polls to stop blacks from voting, anyway they could. [Read more…] about The Bizarre History of Election Law: The Camden Election Riots of 1870

Weekly Wrap Up

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

– New Orleans has experienced a record number of early voters for its municipal election.  About 16,600 ballots have been cast already, compared to 12,850 early votes in the 2008 presidential election.  Experts speculate that the rise in early voting is because the election is scheduled for this Saturday, just one day before the Saints play in the Superbowl.

– A measure that would allow overseas voters to send their ballots by email has passed the Washington House, and is headed to that state’s Senate.

– A judge in New Jersey has ordered a panel of experts to evaluate the security of New Jersey’s 11,000 voting machines.  Some have criticized the ruling for not requiring that the machines be retrofitted to produce a paper trail.

– A corporation has announced its candidacy for Congress!  Murray Hill Inc. plans on filing to run in the Republican primary in Maryland’s 8th Congressional District.  Feeling liberated by the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, the corporation has decided to take the logical next step in their struggle for equal rights.  According to Murray Hill “It’s our democracy.  We bought it, we paid for it, and we’re going to keep it.”

– The California governor’s race has taken a bizarre turn.  Steve Poizner, a Republican candidate, has accused his rival Republican Meg Whitman of trying to bully him out of the race.   Poizner claims that an e-mail sent to him from Whitman’s office violates four federal and state election laws.  A copy of Poizner’s complaint, including a copy of the email, can be found here.

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New York City Selects New Electronic Voting Machines

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Although New York City may not sleep, it does procrastinate.  NYC will be one of the last municipalities in the U.S. to adopt electronic voting machines for elections.  In fact, had the old voting machines not been replaced by January 14th, the state government would have been forced to step in and Lever Operated NYC Voting Boothselect new electronic machines for the city.

The decision to contract for voting machines isn’t as easy as it may seem. Voting machines are graded on ease of usage, reliability, predicted years of use,  and most importantly, accuracy.  Contracts are often political battles; the NYC voting machine contract is no different.  The NYC Board of Elections was tasked with choosing new voting machines for the city.  After narrowing it down to two choices: Dominion, a Toronto based producer that would employ more than 60 New Yorkers (their proposal can be found here), or Election Systems & Software of Omaha, Neb (their proposal can be found here).  ES&S, the dominant voting machine provider in the country, received slightly higher scores from the Board of Elections.  The complete report and how scores were calculated can be found at Board of Elections. [Read more…] about New York City Selects New Electronic Voting Machines

Hawaii Five-O: A $5,000 Budget has Hawaii Rethinking the Special Election

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On January 4th U.S. Congressman for Hawaii Neil Abercrombie announced he will resign on February 28th to focus on his run for Governor in November. When a special election is required to fill a U.S. representative’s seat, it may not formally be announced until the current representative officially vacates his seat. Chapter 17-2 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes states that the elections officer must declare the special election not later than within 60 days of the date of the special election (unlike with senators, there is no provision for interim appointments.) Therefore, the earliest the state may hold the special election is May 1st. [Read more…] about Hawaii Five-O: A $5,000 Budget has Hawaii Rethinking the Special Election

Citizens United and Voluntary Associations

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This article was originally posted as a comment to this post on The Volokh Conspiracy. It is reposted here with the permission of the author, William Van Alstyne.

Despite the cogency of observations by several who have commented on the 5/4 decision in this past week’s SCOTUS case, voiding the century-old act of Congress forbidding ordinary business corporations from spending treasury funds to endorse or oppose candidates for national elective office, my own view is that the dissenting opinion by Justice Stevens on balance had the better of the First Amendment argument. The existing restrictions on campaign finance have been even-handed, insofar as (for example) the United Auto Workers (the UAW) is subject to the same limitation as General Motors itself. Each, in turn, is equally free to establish Political Action Committees (PACS) which may indeed solicit contributions from willing parties (shareholders in the one case, workers in the other) whether to be spent directly to advance the candidacies of particular favored candidates or to advertise for the defeat of others. Funds raised by PACS (whether corporate or labor union PACS) are provided willingly, as are funds contributed by members of the ACLU, Young Socialists, Vegetarians, NARAL, or the Moral Majority. Each of these organizations is properly treated as a First Amendment voluntary association, even as is the NAACP.

But, there has been no reason to regard a GM shareholder likewise, whether individually or institutionally, nor a GM employee likewise – insofar as his or her UAW dues payments to the union are not voluntary but, instead, made as a condition of being employed by GM (pursuant to a collective bargaining contract secured by the UAW via the National Labor Relations Act). I frankly thought that the dissent in this case had the better of it, consistent with pre-existing First Amendment principles (as well as century-old case law as well). The Court’s 5/4 decision is certainly no great calamity (nor is its likely extension in the current Supreme Court term to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment). I think, however, there is more to regret than celebrate in the undoing of the “balance” previously struck.

William Van Alstyne is a noted First Amendment scholar and professor at William and Mary Law School.

Permalink: http://stateofelections.pages.wm.edu/2010/01/29/citizens-united-and-voluntary-associations

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