State of Elections

William & Mary Law School | Election Law Society

Tidewater Roots Poll Project

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http://stateofelections.pages.wm.edu/files/2010/09/tidewater1.jpg

Previous articles on Stateofelections.com have mentioned the “graying” of America’s poll workers.  The average age of a poll worker is 72, and  they obviously are not getting any younger.  Even more depressingly, precincts across the nation are overworked and shorthanded.  According to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, poll worker error was responsible for over 1 million lost votes.  That’s one million voters effectively disenfranchised because of our rapidly aging poll worker population.  It is clear that America needs a new generation of voters to step up and take on this important civic responsibility.

To that end, the William & Mary Election Law Program is pleased to announce its latest initiative, the Tidewater Roots Poll Project. The goal of the Project is to recruit 240 college students from 6 schools across the Tidewater region: William & Mary, Hampton University, Regent University, Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University and Christopher Newport University.  These students will be trained as election officials and introduced to experienced poll workers to spark an appreciation for the tradition of civic involvement of the region.  The project will be documented in oral history videographies featuring the students and their interactions with experienced poll workers.

Ultimately, our mission is not just to get 240 college students to work this election day, but to inspire them to make a lifetime commitment to participatory democracy.

To learn more about the program, or if you are a student at one of those six schools who wants to get involved, visit the project’s website at Tidewaterroots.com.

Permalink: http://stateofelections.pages.wm.edu/?p=1799

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Congratulations to Former ELS President Jeff Palmore!

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We’re getting ready for the upcoming year and preparing lots of original articles covering the moving pieces of election law in the states.  However, big news just hit us and we wanted to share it with everyone.

Jeff Palmore (W&M Law ‘09), a former President of the law school’s Election Law Society, is now Deputy Counselor to Governor McDonnell.  Read more on the link here: http://www.governor.virginia.gov/news/viewRelease.cfm?id=311. Congratulations, Jeff!

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Redistricting Litigation: What Every Judge Should Know

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The William and Mary Election Law Program and the National Center for State Courts, as part of their election law litigation educational series, have just posted three new videos discussing the finer points of redistricting litigation. If you are a judge, lawyer, or law student interested in election law, I strongly recommend you watch these videos.

The speakers in the videos are Jessica Amunson, J. Gerald Hebert, Trevor Potter, and John Hardin Young, who also spoke at the 2010 Election Law Symposium at William & Mary.

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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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Synergy and Citizens United

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Before coming to law school, I worked as a fundraising and communications consultant for a number of House and Senate campaigns.  Sometimes, being involved in one race would lend opportunities to help a client in another.  For example, I would sometimes have clients in nearby districts who would do joint events, or who would each take a turn with a visiting speaker or leader during the same trip.

Most common, however, would be when one prominent figure (usually a sitting Congressman or popular party leader) would agree to write a fundraising email or letter for one client, and I would convince that figure to allow me to send a second letter on behalf of another client while we were at it.  My clients were often unaware that I was performing this service, but it’s actually quite common: the world of DC fundraisers is surprisingly incestuous, with fundraisers each attending events hosted by their colleagues and regular donors.  Think about it: if a campaign fundraising consultant doesn’t regularly attend events at the home of a prominent  donor, what are the odds of developing a close relationship with that donor and getting her to host an event for your clients down the line?  It’s also about networking: at some point, each of us found that we had to turn down a prospective client (for whatever reason–everything from ideological disagreement to prior commitments in the race), so we’d pass their information to a colleague and hope for reciprocity down the line.  It’s just good business. [Read more…] about Synergy and Citizens United