Election Law Society

Online Voter Registration: A Small Step in the Right Direction

Election Law Society · January 18, 2010 ·

Lawmakers in the Michigan House recently passed HB 4539 and 4540, which together lay out the principles to allow for the electronic submission of voter registration applications. The change would allow for citizens with access to the Internet to register online by filling out a form similar to the paper form, and signing electronically. The form is then automatically printed at the local clerk’s office. Arizona was the first to implement online voter registration in 2003, followed by Washington in 2008, with six other states following last year. Other states have proposed similar legislation, and online registration continues to grow in popularity. In Arizona, 25% of all new voter registrations took place online in its first year and within a few years that number reached 70%. Michigan is expected to see similar numbers. The bills are currently headed to the Senate for further review.

This new legislation has several clear aims. The costs associated with online registrations are significantly lower than paper forms. Arizona spends nearly 83 cents processing each paper voter registration form while their online voter registrations may be completed with a cost of only 3 cents. Postage for delivery and receipt is not necessary with online registration because the form is immediately and automatically printed off at the clerk’s office after the registrant submits online. The registrant then has the option to print off a copy on their printer for personal records. This process would also cut down the amount of information that needs to be manually entered from paper forms, which would help prevent errors. Michigan in particular experienced difficulties with third-party form falsification last fall with groups like ACORN. Michigan hopes to eliminate such risks by taking the registration forms out of those group’s hands and giving voters this simple and streamlined way of registering.

Weekly Wrap Up

Election Law Society · January 15, 2010 ·

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

– Implementation of the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act has been delayed until 2012. The Act, which would require paper ballots in all Tennessee elections, has been highly controversial and strongly opposed by Republicans in the legislature. Lt. Gov Ron Ramsey even declared that delaying the bill was his No. 1 priority. Bernie Ellis, a leading proponent of the Act, posted this editorial on State of Elections in December. For more background, check out this article by Drew Staniewski.

– A federal judge in Arizona appears ready to dramatically change that state’s system of funding elections. Under Arizona’s Clean Elections system, certain candidates receive government funding for their campaigns. The system is designed to allow less well-funded candidates to compete with more affluent opponents. Judge Roslyn Silver, however, has written a draft order that would strike down these matching funds as unconstitutional.

– Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna and Secretary of State Sam Reed have announced that they will appeal the 9th Circuit Court’s decision in Farrakhan v. Gregoire. The decision restored the voting rights of felons in Washington. For more of State of Election’s coverage of the debate over felon voting rights, go here and here.

The check out the post here first studios were reconstituted farms and barns where short films were churned out at the rate of one every three days or so.

Voter Privacy and the Know Campaign

Election Law Society · January 13, 2010 ·

I get tons of political mail. Most of it I don’t read – after all, it contains little useful information. But if someone mailed me this, it would surely catch my eye:

“Below is a partial list of your recent voting history — public information obtained from the Virginia State Board of Elections…We have sent you this information as a public service because we believe that democracy only works when you vote.”

What if this mailing also contained information about my neighbor’s voting history in order for me to encourage/shame him into voting in the upcoming election?

This is exactly what the Know Campaign in Virginia sought to do this election cycle before legal action stopped them in their tracks. To read more about that, check out the Washington Post’s story here. The Know Campaign’s press release that started all of the excitement is here. [Read more…] about Voter Privacy and the Know Campaign

Ye Olde Election Law: The Bizarre History of Election Law

Election Law Society · January 11, 2010 ·

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.

One such moment happened in California’s Siskiyou County. In 1895, Clarence Smith was elected school superintendent of that county by a single vote. His opponent, George Tebbe, contested the result. When the ballots were recounted, the court found three additional votes for Tebbe, and declared Tebbe the new winner by two votes. However, until the ballots could be counted in open court, they had been stored under the desk in the county clerk’s office. This sounds all well and good, except that Tebbe was deputy clerk at that office, and worked in the same room where the ballots were stored. Imagine Tebbe, sitting just a few short feet from the ballots, the ballots that would decide his political future. Even if there was no actual vote tampering, surely even the appearance of impropriety would warrant a stern rebuke from the court. Of course, no such rebuke was forthcoming. Instead, the court praised the “prudence of the clerk and the fair dealing of all concerned”, and required that Smith prove that ballot tampering took place before taking any action.

Weekly Wrap Up

Election Law Society · January 8, 2010 ·

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

– Winter break at William and Mary is over, and State of Elections is excited to return to a full time posting schedule. New articles will be posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, beginning on January 11th.

– Senator Chris Dodd has announced he will not seek reelection in 2010. During his time in the Senate, Dodd proposed some sweeping changes to voter registration laws. Take a look at S. 17, Dodd’s proposed “Voting Opportunity and Technology Enhancement Rights Act of 2005”. If it had been passed, S. 17 would have required states to allow voters to register on election day, and also would have enabled voters to register electronically via the Internet.

– The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the disenfranchisement of felons violates the federal Voting Rights Act. According to the court, the criminal justice system is so “infected” with racism that limiting the right of felons to vote is contrary to the Act’s prohibition against the denial of voting rights on account of race. The court’s opinion can be read in full here.

– The Rhode Island Senate and House has enacted legislation allowing 16 and 17 year olds to “pre-register” to vote. Those that pre-register will be automatically added to the voter rolls will they turn 18. The bill had been previously vetoed by Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri, but the veto was overridden by the legislature. For more information on pre-registration, see FairVote.org’s fact sheet.