voter confusion

Spoiler Alert: Sham Candidates Unduly Influence Florida Elections

Election Law Society · March 14, 2022 ·

Sham candidates are influencing outcomes in Florida elections. And it’s “not necessarily illegal.” Running sham candidates, or “ballot management,” is the practice of strategically running a no party affiliation (NPA) or third-party candidate not to win, but to siphon votes from a competitor. The 2020 race for Florida Senate District 37 illustrates the issue.

Incumbent Democratic state senator José Javier Rodríguez ran for reelection to his seat representing Florida’s Senate District 37, which he first won in 2016. His competitors were Republican Ileana Garcia and NPA candidate Alex Rodriguez— an auto parts dealer who conveniently shared the same last name as José Javier Rodríguez. Suspiciously, Alex Rodriquez did not appear to want to win the election, failing to campaign, speak publicly, or otherwise engage with voters. By itself, it’s possible Alex Rodriquez was someone who simply wanted to throw his hat into the ring, but perhaps lacked the will or resources for a full-throated campaign. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

The Fifth Circuit Got it Wrong: Last-Second Burdens on Voting Should be Prohibited

Election Law Society · October 21, 2020 ·

The conjunction of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 election has wrecked legal and electoral chaos in the state of Texas. In July, in order to accommodate the large amount of individuals filing for mail-in-ballots, Governor Abbott issued several proclamations, permitting voters to turn in their mail-in-ballots in person not only on election day but for the entire early voting period.

In response, several of Texas’s most populous and geographically dispersed counties set up multiple drop-off locations where voters could turn in their mail-in-ballots. This allowed voters to turn in their mail-in-ballots without having to travel far, wait in long lines, and risk exposure to COVID-19. In effect, the counties sought to realize the whole purpose of allowing mail-in-ballots: to avoid exposure to COVID-19.

Easy Reading? California’s 224-page Voter’s Guide

Election Law Society · March 28, 2017 ·

By: Tyler Sherman

As November 8—election day—drew closer and Californians geared up to cast their ballots, election officials mailed out the state’s Official Voter Information Guide. The guide listed and explained each of seventeen ballot propositions—the most to appear on a single ballot in sixteen years. But not only was the ballot replete with more propositions than in any election in nearly two decades, the Guide itself set the record of being the longest voter guide in California’s history, at an enormous 224-pages long.

A Bad Year for Kansas’s Kobach and Newby

Election Law Society · March 17, 2017 ·

By: Norma Volkmer

It has not been a good year for Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and former Johnson County, Kansas Election Commissioner Brian Newby. Newby is currently the executive director of the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission, where in January he approved Kobach’s plan to alter the federal voter registration form to require proof of citizenship.

Kansas 0-3 in Voter ID Lawsuits

Election Law Society · January 23, 2017 ·

By: Norma Volkmer

Kansas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach, narrowly avoided contempt charges in September 2016 which would have been the cherry on top for those in opposition to Kansas’s proof-of-citizenship requirement. The requirement, which requires anyone registering to vote in Kansas provide proof of citizenship via one of thirteen documents, was enacted under the Secure and Fair Elections Act of 2011, and was enforced beginning in 2013.