State of Elections

William & Mary Law School | Election Law Society

William & Mary Law School to Host Seventh Annual Election Law Symposium

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FINAL Symposium Press Release

WILLIAMSBURG, VA – The Election Law Society and the Election Law Program at William
& Mary Law School announce the Seventh Annual Election Law Symposium to take place on
Thursday, February 21st. The event will feature prominent election law attorneys, the Colorado
Secretary of State, election law scholars, and Virginia registrars. The symposium centers upon
voting delays and is titled “We Have to Fix That: Bipartisan Solutions to Election Day Delays.”

The symposium was inspired by President Obama’s speech following the election when he said,
“I want to thank every American who participated in this election, whether you voted for the
very first time or waited in line for a very long time…. by the way, we have to fix that.“ This
event will draw upon various panelists’ expertise in election law in an attempt to formulate
concrete ideas and bipartisan solutions for how to manage elections and limit voting delays. [Read more…] about William & Mary Law School to Host Seventh Annual Election Law Symposium

Unlikely Challenge: North Carolina Election Challenge Procedures and Write-In Candidates

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by Justin Moore

“You can’t beat somebody with nobody”. On Election Day 2012, President Obama was re-elected, and North Carolina elected a Republican Governor for the first time in two decades. But there were thousands of other races further down the ballot, ones that are barely noticed by the public. In one of the most competitive counties in a swing state, on the last race on the ballot, a very odd thing happened. There was an election for an office that no one ran for. This election, for Watauga County Soil and Water Supervisor, had only write-in candidates since no one officially filed to run. Of the 27,764 ballots cast in Watauga County, only 1,839 voted in the race, all write in votes.  The election was won by Chris Stevens, a college student who registered to vote in September in Watauga County. The ineligible candidate discussed by this post, Alan Teitleman, finished fifth. [Read more…] about Unlikely Challenge: North Carolina Election Challenge Procedures and Write-In Candidates

Politics and courts in Oklahoma: Recipe for Accountability? Or Corruption?

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by Grant McLoughlin

Oklahoma Judicial elections have long been afterthoughts. Oklahoma has a two tiered system for selecting judges. Voters elect local trial judges directly through a non-partisan Top Two primary. Every four years local trial judges must run for re-election. Statewide appellate judges are nominated through a nonpartisan judicial nominating commission. The commission is made up of fifteen members, six lawyers and nine non lawyers. The commission sends a list of candidates to the governor, who then appoints those individuals she thinks best to serve. Appellate judges, whether recently appointed or not, then face voters on a nonpartisan retention ballot every four years. Voters have two options: they can either keep the judge; or remove the judge, causing the nominating process to begin anew to fill the vacancy.  Prior to this system judges ran in partisan races and were forced to commit a great deal of time to campaigning and raising funds.  Since the retention system has been in place in Oklahoma, no judge has ever been removed through a vote of the people. [Read more…] about Politics and courts in Oklahoma: Recipe for Accountability? Or Corruption?

Kansas’ Secretary of State: Protecting Voter Privacy, or Politics as Usual?

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by Katherine Paige

A U.S. District Court ruling handed down Wednesday in Kansas granted disclosure of the names of provisional ballot voters to candidates in a tightly contested state house race, thereby clarifying the scope of voter privacy protection under federal law.

The ruling was issued in response to a federal lawsuit filed by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to prevent disclosure of the names.

Kobach argued that federal election law protects voters’ identities from disclosure, citing § 302(a) of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA): “Access to information about an individual provisional ballot shall be restricted to the individual who cast the ballot.” U.S. District Court Judge Marten rejected Kobach’s argument, reading the plain text of the statute to protect only disclosure of how someone voted, not the identity of the voter. [Read more…] about Kansas’ Secretary of State: Protecting Voter Privacy, or Politics as Usual?

Reject perennial ‘Etch A Sketch’ redistricting

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by Brian Cannon

Update: Brian Cannon’s letter to the Richmond Times-Dispatch is available here.

Whether Sen. John Watkins’ Martin Luther King Day surprise defies the U.S. Constitution or the federal Voting Rights Act are complicated questions. But the constitutionality of his “re-redisticting” bill might live closer to home. Consider Virginia’s state Constitution.

In Article II Section 6, the Virginia Constitution grants the legislature the authority to redraw district lines with the following passage:  “The General Assembly shall reapportion the Commonwealth into electoral districts … in the year 2011 and every ten years thereafter.  Any such decennial reapportionment law shall take effect immediately….” [Read more…] about Reject perennial ‘Etch A Sketch’ redistricting