Election Law Society

Something Rotten in the State of Connecticut?

Election Law Society · November 25, 2019 ·

By: Kalia Desaix

Incumbent Bridgeport mayor, Joe Ganim, recently won the Democratic mayoral primary over State Senator Marilyn Moore through his widespread success with absentee voters. While it is not unusual for an incumbent candidate to win the primary, it is unusual for a candidate to win based on absentee ballots. Although Ganim’s campaign’s focus on absentee ballot eligible voters has raised some eyebrows, he insists that this has simply been a noble effort to make absentee ballots more available to those eligible.

The Tar Heel Test Case, Partisan Gerrymandering Cases in a Post-Rucho World

Election Law Society · November 20, 2019 ·

By: Gabby Vance

On Monday, October 28th, 2019, a three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Wake County ruled that the proposed North Carolina congressional district maps violated the North Carolina state constitution. Despite Democrats making up about half the state vote, the maps only consisted of three Democratic districts and ten Republican districts. The panel found that the maps clearly discriminated against Democratic voters. The mapmakers used tactics such as “packing” and “cracking” to skew the maps in favor of Republicans and manipulate the upcoming 2020 election in their favor. Packing concentrates supporters for a political party into one district to give their party a less number of wins. Whereas cracking, the opposite technique spreads large groups of voters with the same political ideology out to water down their votes. These methods created landslide victories in North Carolina in the three Democratic districts; the candidates consistently win by over 70% of the vote and then much smaller victories for the Republican seats, only around mid-to-high 50% victories.

How A Partisan Power Struggle Rewrote North Carolina’s Election Code

Election Law Society · November 18, 2019 ·

By: Margaret Lowry

In North Carolina, a partisan struggle over control of the State Board of Elections has led to a complete reshuffling of the state’s election code – not once, but twice.

In 2010, Republicans won a legislative majority in North Carolina’s General Assembly for the first time since 1898, and gained control over the executive branch two years later – giving the party complete control over the state government. The complete victory was short-lived. In 2016, the Republican incumbent was defeated by Democrat Roy Cooper.

Dakota Drama: Could Controversial North Dakota Voter ID Law Migrate South?

Election Law Society · November 13, 2019 ·

By: Daniel Long

This past summer, the Eighth Circuit held that a controversial North Dakota law requiring very specific forms of voter identification could go into effect, vacating a district court’s injunction. The law in question, N.D. Cent. Code § 16.1-01-04.1, requires prospective voters to present identification that includes a North Dakota residential street address. If the prospective voter’s identification does not have a current residential street address, the voter may present other supplemental forms as well, such as a utility bill, provided that these forms contain a current residential address. North Dakota’s voter ID law received fierce backlash from Native Americans, whose IDs typically contain P.O. boxes rather than residential street addresses. The Eighth Circuit’s ruling begs the question, could North Dakota’s voter ID law migrate south to South Dakota? [Read more…] about Dakota Drama: Could Controversial North Dakota Voter ID Law Migrate South?

Implementation of Nevada’s “Motor Voter” Initiative Races Toward the Finish Line

Election Law Society · November 11, 2019 ·

By: Laura Misch

During the November 2018 mid-term elections, Nevada voters had the opportunity to vote “yes” or “no” on Question 5—a ballot measure that would establish an automatic voter registration system in the state. The voters’ answer was a resounding yes, with approximately sixty percent voting in favor of the initiative. This enactment of an automatic voter registration system follows a larger trend that is quickly sweeping the nation. Prior to the 2018 elections, a total of eleven states, plus the District of Columbia, passed automatic voter registration. In 2018, Nevada became one of the six newest states to enact such a system. However, passing the ballot measure has proven to be only half the battle. [Read more…] about Implementation of Nevada’s “Motor Voter” Initiative Races Toward the Finish Line