Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Administrative Law Blogs -> Within the Scope

Administrative Law

: Within the Scope

Election Reporting, Yes.? Although Not for the Truth of the Matter Asserted

By Eric L. Lipman

In an interesting opinion issued late last month, a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld a trial court?s exclusion, as inadmissible hearsay, certain election-related reports made by the Missouri Secretary of State?s office.

The U.S. Government had sued the State of Missouri, seeking orders that would compel the state to upgrade the processes by which it culls deceased and ineligible persons from Missouri's voter rolls.

Earlier, in 2005, as part of its preparation for a biennial report to Congress on election matters, the federal Election Assistance Commission sent survey forms to Missouri, requesting data regarding the performance of local election officials. When state officials sought an extension of the time to compile this data, the EAC ?denied Missouri?s request for an extension of time and told Missouri to do the best it could.?

When the federal government later sought to introduce these reports as evidence of Missouri's failure to meet federal election standards, the district court received the survey responses to demonstrate that Missouri had notice of possible election-related problems, but did not admit the responses for the truth of the matters asserted in the reports. The district court found that the statements about the performance of local election officials were hearsay. In its appeal, the United States challenged this ruling.

Sustaining the trial court?s limited use of the reports, the panel held that the state?s responses to the EAC survey did not qualify for an introduction as an admission of a party opponent, an adoptive admission, a public record or as a ?record of a regularly conducted activity? of the state.

The panel?s complete analysis ? including a worthwhile discussion of the Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution ? is accessible here.

Full post as published by Within the Scope on August 21, 2008 (boomark / email).