State of Elections

William & Mary Law School | Election Law Society

California

Weekly Wrap Up

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–  On June 8th, California voters will weigh in on two election reform measures, Propositions 14 and 15. Proposition 14 would create a single ballot for primary elections. The two candidates who received the most votes would face off in the general election, regardless of their party affiliation. Theoretically, this could result in a general election contest between two members of the same party. Prop 14 also allows candidates to choose to keep their party affiliation off the primary ballot.

Proposition 15, also known as the California Fair Elections Act, would repeal California’s ban on public funding for elections.  Candidates for Secretary of State would be eligible to up to 1,000,000 dollars in public funding for primary elections, and 1,300,000 in public funding for the general election.  Candidates who accepted the funds would be prohibited from raising or spending any money beyond what they receive from the public fund.

–  On May 29th, Florida governor Charlie Crist signed a far-reaching elections bill.  The bill will have a number of effects, including a requirement that any group engaging in political advertising disclose their source of funding. The bill will also make it easier for overseas and military voters to cast their ballots. Interestingly, HB 131 has been criticized by the ACLU for failing to provide adequate voting machines for disabled voters.

– The California State Senate has approved a bill to allow Election Day voter registration.

–  In Ohio, a redistricting reform bill has stalled in the legislature.


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Weekly Wrap Up

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

– Another week, another challenge to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Shelby County in Alabama is seeking an injunction against Attorney General Holder to prevent him from enforcing Section 5 of the VRA. Section 5 requires that certain states and municipalities “preclear” changes to their voting laws with the Attorney General. Last week, Merced County in California initiated a similar challenge to the Act.

– In Kansas, voters will decide whether to amend the state constitution to protect the voting rights of the mentally ill.  Currently, the state constitution allows legislators to deny voting rights to the mentally ill, though the legislature has not attempted to pass any laws limiting those rights.  This amendment would eliminate the possibility of such restrictions entirely.  The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot next statewide election, on November 2nd.

– Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post has written this editorial linking Arizona’s “Clean Election” reforms with that state’s new controversial immigration law.

– In New York, Assemblyman Michael Gianaris has introduced a bill that would create a non-partisan redistricting commission in that state.

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Weekly Wrap Up

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

– On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Doe v. Reed.  The plaintiffs argue that Washington’s Public Records Act, which makes the names of signatories to ballot initiatives a matter of public record, should be declared unconstitutional .  Members of a group called “Protect Marriage Washington”, who submitted petitions for a referendum to repeal Washington’s domestic partnership laws, have asked for an injunction against the publication of their names.  The signatories fear harassment from gay marriage proponents should their names be published, as required under the Public Records Act. Here’s a transcript of the oral arguments.

– The Supreme Court of New Jersey has agreed to hear a case involving an attempt by a Tea Party organization to recall Senator Robert Menendez.  The New Jersey constitution allows Senators to be recalled, but the U.S. Constitution is silent on the issue.  The appeals court previously ruled in favor of the Tea Party and allowed their recall efforts to continue.

– Merced County in California is seeking to remove itself from the restrictions of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.  Section 5 requires that certain states and municipalities “preclear” changes to their voting laws with the Attorney General.  Only four counties in California are subject to the additional restrictions imposed by Section 5.

– Here’s a very odd story out of Orange County California.  According to a local newspaper, dozens of voters were allegedly tricked into registering as Republicans.  Members of the Republican Party supposedly tricked passersby into thinking they were signing petitions for liberal causes, like legalizing marijuana, when they were actually signing voter registration forms that identified them as Republicans.  The California Republican Party offers an $8 dollar bounty for every new Republican registration, which apparently inspired this latest attempt to trick voters into registering as Republicans.

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Weekly Wrap Up

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

– A recently filed lawsuit in North Carolina seeks to challenge Section 5 of the Voter Rights Act. Section 5 requires that certain states and municipalities “preclear” changes to their voting laws with the Attorney General.  Essentially, the Attorney General has a veto over any changes to voting laws in certain states, but not in others.  This North Carolina lawsuit (LaRoque v. Holder) claims that Section 5 exceeds Congress’s authority under the Fifth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution.

– The iPad has already made its mark on the election law community.  Project Vote, a voter registration and engagement organization, is teaming with Echo Interaction Group to develop a new voter registration application for the iPad. The application would allow users to instantly and accurately record, collect, and upload voter data to a secure server.  Only four states currently allow online voter registration, but the organization is optimistic that more states will follow suit.

– California State Senator Leland Yee has introduced a bill that would permit same day registration in that state.

– The Ohio House of Representatives has unanimously passed a bill that will allow overseas military forces to request absentee ballots electronically, instead of requiring the request be sent through regular mail.

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Weekly Wrap Up

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

– A number of states are passing new legislation in an attempt to curb the influence of special interests on judicial elections.

– Wisconsin state Representative Jeff Stone is pushing for voter ID legislation in that state.  The legislature had previously approved a bill that required photo ID at the polls, but the bill was vetoed by the Governor.

– The Maryland legislature is currently debating a bill that would allow 16 year olds to register to vote.

– In California, two candidates for state attorney general are preparing for a court battle over what titles they can attach to their names on the ballot.  Titles and nicknames seem to be a particularly contentious issue lately.  Check out this article from last week about Conrad “Colonel”  Reynolds and “Porky” Kimbrell, and their efforts to put their nicknames on the ballot.  Spoiler alert: Colonel = flagrant violation of election law, Porky = perfectly legal.

– Here’s an interesting post about the 2010 census and redistricting from the Balkinization blog.

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