political parties

In a Challenge to West Virginia’s Ballot Order Law, Will the Fourth Circuit Continue a Post-Rucho Trend of Limiting Federal Review of State Election Laws?

Election Law Society · September 30, 2020 ·

By Daniel Bruce

A ballot order challenge currently pending before the Fourth Circuit may have significant implications for the development of political question doctrine following the Supreme Court’s controversial decision in Rucho v. Common Cause.

In August, the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia enjoined the West Virginia Secretary of State from enforcing the state’s nearly thirty-year-old ballot order statute and ordered it to implement a nondiscriminatory alternative for the 2020 election. Passed by Democrats in 1991, W. Va. Code § 3-6-2(c)(3) requires candidates appearing on statewide ballots to be placed in the order of the party whose candidate received the highest number of statewide votes in the previous presidential election.

No Star-Crossed Party Voting in Alabama: Stick with Your Party

Election Law Society · December 7, 2017 ·

By: Lydia Warkentin

Roy Moore’s defeat of Senator Luther Strange in a special Republican primary runoff in Alabama dominated the news cycle this September. But flying under the radar is a new Alabama law (Act No. 2017-340), signed by Governor Kay Ivey last May, that prohibits “crossover” voting in party primaries and runoffs. The law states that voters, if required to return to the polls for a primary runoff, like the one on September 26, can vote only for the party they voted for in the primary. In other words, a voter cannot vote in the Democratic party’s primary and then vote in the Republican party’s runoff. Only those who voted in the Republican primary on August 15, or those that did not vote at all, were permitted to vote in the September 26 runoff. Supporters say the goal of the law is to prevent one party from having an improper effect on another party’s race.

Strike Three, You’re In? The Two-Party (And Sometimes Three-Party) Election Registrar System in Connecticut

Election Law Society · October 10, 2016 ·

By: Jake Albert

Elections are political. In every election voters choose among candidates who are associated with one party or another, with two major parties dominating the landscape in this country. Choosing a member from one of these parties involves countless hours of campaigning and millions of dollars nationwide, all to advance one’s own, or often one’s party’s, agenda while in office. This can often lead to gridlock when partisan political agendas collide. But what happens when the very people who run the actual elections are also part of this partisan political system?