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Students at William & Mary Law School are set to run the W&M VOTEline, a voter assistance hotline aimed at responding to difficulties local citizens face at the polls. This non-partisan voter assistance hotline will be operated by student members of the school’s Election Law Society (ELS) and other volunteers.

“Voting is an important civic duty,” Election Law Society President Ashleigh Casey ’12 said. “We want to ensure that all voters – young and old – who are properly registered to vote can do so. We will be manning the VOTEline phones on Election Day, Tuesday November 2nd, to answer any questions that might arise as voters arrive at a polling place to cast their vote.”

VOTEline is a response to outcries from William & Mary students who faced confusion at local election booths in the past. The Election Law Society has operated VOTEline since November of 2007.  Any citizen who wants to vote in the local election may call the hotline at (757) 221-2890 from 8 A.M. to 8 P.M. to seek information regarding their rights at the polls.

“I encourage William & Mary students and members of the Williamsburg community at large to call the VOTEline with any questions or concerns they may have at the polls on Election Day,” Casey said.

Students are also advised to bring a government issued form of identification to the polls on Election Day. Valid forms of identification include a voter identification card, a valid driver’s license, and a W&M ID card for certain voters.

For more information about VOTEline, call or e-mail Brian Rothenberg ’13, at (757) 209-1001 / brian.rothenberg@gmail.com.

If you have followed State of Elections from the beginning, you may have noticed a sudden upturn in quality over the past couple weeks. You are probably saying to yourself, “I know the current editor-in-chief, though handsome, isn’t remotely competent. What gives?”

Well, “what gives” is that State of Elections has a brand new editorial board. 1Ls Amelia Vance, Amanda Lowther, and Kelci Block will be taking the reins of the site and handling most editorial duties from here on out.

Here’s some information about the new editors.

Amelia Vance graduated magna cum laude from McDaniel College in Maryland. While attending McDaniel, Amelia was Head Delegate for McDaniel’s Model United Nations team, co-president of Allies (McDaniel College’s Gay-Straight Alliance), and participated in Model European Union and the McDaniel College Departments of Theatre and Music. She also worked full time for the Obama campaign in Michigan and North Carolina in fall 2008, and interned with the U.S. State Department and Michigan Representative Sandy Levin. Amelia plans to work in the federal government after law school.

Amanda Lowther is originally from Orlando, Florida, although she spent parts of her childhood in rural Alabama and living as an ex-pat in Ulsan, South Korea. She graduated in 2010 from University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, with a B.A. in history, minoring in mass communication and education. Amanda was a member of the University Chorus at American University (where she spent her freshman year) and sang for then-President Bush (and on national television) for TNT’s Christmas in Washington program. At UNF, Amanda was a charter sister and eventually president of the Gamma Chapter of Theta Alpha, a Christian sorority. Amanda was inspired to come to law school by her Media Law and Ethics professor at UNF, who sparked her interest in the First Amendment and other issues in the laws governing media outlets.

Kelci Block went to University of Central Florida for undergrad, where she majored in political science and minored in middle eastern studies. Kelci has interned for the Sierra Club’s law office and for Great Sand Dunes National Park. Her first exposure to politics was through her aunt, who is a state representative in Pennsylvania. When she graduates, she would like to specialize in environmental law.