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Students’ Voting Rights – Keeping Madison’s Dream Alive?

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New Hampshire’s House Speaker, William O’Brien (R-Hillsborough 4), made a name for himself in cyberspace and among voting rights advocates earlier this year when he openly voiced that students in New Hampshire should not be able to vote in-state unless they had established permanent residency in their college towns. O’Brien also vocally supported a recent bill to limit students’ franchise by prohibiting election-day voter registration, a device many students rely upon in New Hampshire to be able to participate in New Hampshire elections. While attempting to justify the proposed bills, H.B. 176 and H.B. 223  respectively, by citing the importance of eliminating voter fraud, his statements were significantly undermined when he also alleged (in a video posted on YouTube) that students in New Hampshire are foolish and merely “vote their feelings.” O’Brien further secured his poor reputation (and the Bills’ fates) by declaring that college students on Election Day cancel out the votes of other, more invested voters, relying on a “dearth of experience and a plethora of the easy self-confidence that only ignorance and inexperience can produce.”

[Read more…] about Students’ Voting Rights – Keeping Madison’s Dream Alive?

Maryland & Indiana: A robocall showdown

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How different states are handling political robocall controversies.

by Ashley Ward

What thought comes to mind upon hearing the word “Robocall”? For most, the thought conjures ideas of annoying telemarketing. However, for Democrats in the Baltimore and Prince George’s Counties, robocalls received on the 2010 election night added new thoughts to the definition: voter confusion and suppression. Before the polls closed for the 2010 Gubernatorial Race, residents received a call from an unnamed woman who said: “I’m calling to let everyone know that Governor O’Malley and President Obama have been successful. Our goals have been met…The only thing left is to watch it on TV tonight. Congratulations and thank you.” Listen Here

The message seemed to imply that the Democratic candidate had already won the election and therefore the residents’ vote would be excessive and not needed. This implication was ill-gotten because there was no way to know at that time which candidate won. Many confused and upset residents contacted Gov. O’ Malley’s campaign center to complain.  Further investigation proved that the governor and his team had nothing to do with the calls. In fact, investigators determined that the members of the Republican candidate, former Gov. Eurlich’s team were responsible for the calls that have been considered by many to be a tactic to discourage the African American vote.
[Read more…] about Maryland & Indiana: A robocall showdown

State of Elections Goes on Summer Break!

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State of Elections is taking a hiatus for the summer. We trust that all new election law cases, legislation, and events will also be going on hiatus as well.

We’ll return in Fall 2011, with new interviews and articles covering any election law events that may have had the audacity to occur during our vacation.

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W&M Submitted Congressional Map Being Considered by Virginia Assembly!

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Senator John Miller of the Virginia Assembly introduced the William & Mary Law School Team’s winning Congressional Map as Senate Bill 5003. The team was asked to attend the Privileges & Elections Committee hearing yesterday where Senator Miller introduced the bill. Two team members, Nick Mueller and Meredith McCoy, attended the hearing to represent the WM Law Team. They were asked to speak about the map and then they fielded questions. They were lauded for the map’s concentric circle design. While the VA Senate may not adopt the map wholesale, it is now an official alternative, which is a big accomplishment for the team.

You can view the WM Law Team’s map and other proposals here. To find the Team’s map, select Congressional from the drop down box under “District Type” and then check the box next to SB5003. The VA Assembly is scheduled to come back on April 25 to adopt new Congressional redistricting lines.

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Interview with Joan Mandle, Executive Director of Democracy Matters

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Joan Mandle, executive director of Democracy Matters, was kind enough to share with us her thoughts on some of the important issues confronting the American election process at this time. Democracy Matters is a national nonpartisan organization dedicated to getting private money out of elections.  It is the student branch of Common Cause, and in partnership these groups seek to remove the corruptive influence of money in politics, and ensure the accountability of elected officials, by establishing a viable system of publicly financed (or “clean”) elections on the state and national levels.

Democracy Matters’ staff and student organizers have been at work since 2001, when NBA player Adonal Foyle founded the organization.  Six states and two localities already have clean elections, and Democracy Matters hopes to expand that list in its campaign to deepen democracy. [Read more…] about Interview with Joan Mandle, Executive Director of Democracy Matters