Election-Campaign Law

Michigan, Florida: Obama asks for full convention votes

Posted on August 04, 2008
The New York Times reports: Senator Barack Obama has asked the credentials committee of the Democratic Party to give full voting rights to delegates from Florida and Michigan at the national convention in Denver. ... After Florida and Michigan held...

California: suit asks that parts of ballot statement be removed on anti-abortion initiative

Posted on August 03, 2008
The Los Angeles Times reports: Backers of a ballot measure that would require parents to be notified before an abortion is performed on a minor acknowledged Friday that the 15-year-old on which "Sarah s Law" is based had a child...

Alabama: Cheney's receipts and expenses for the campaign trip to Birmingham

Posted on August 03, 2008
Left in Alabama asks about the reported take from VP Cheney's campaign trip to Birmingham: Does that math work for you? 100 guests times $500 each equals $50,000. They only say that "several" paid $2000 per couple for the photo...

"Overseas money flowing to presidential candidates"

Posted on August 01, 2008
The Hill reports: Record amounts of overseas money are flowing into the presidential campaigns, and finance experts say there is no sure way to rule out that foreigners are making illegal donations. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who spoke to an...

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Alabama: judge asked to expedite new Jefferson County suit (court doc attached)

Posted on August 01, 2008
The Birmingham News reports: A lawyer asked a federal judge on Thursday to fast track a lawsuit contending the Nov. 4 election for a Jefferson County Commission seat is illegal without prior federal approval. U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler...

Cherokee Nation: appeals court allows Freedmen's suit to continue, but only against officials

Posted on August 01, 2008
The National Law Journal reports: The descendants of "Freedmen," former African slaves owned by the Cherokee Nation, may go forward with a lawsuit against the tribe's officers in which they claim they were barred from voting in two tribal elections...

Illinois: independent candidate sues to get on congressional ballot

Posted on August 01, 2008
The Lake-Forester reports: Allen Stevo is suing the State Board of Elections to try and regain a spot on the November ballot for his independent candidacy in the 10th Congressional District. The action came July 28, the same day the...

At Wal-Mart, Halloween comes early -- the bad, scary Democrats

Posted on August 01, 2008
The Wall Street Journal reports: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is mobilizing its store managers and department supervisors around the country to warn that if Democrats win power in November, they'll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to...

Dem Convention: judge hears arguments on free speech vs. security

Posted on August 01, 2008
The New York Times reports: A federal trial in a lawsuit seeking to ease strict security provisions at the Democratic National Convention ended Thursday with repeated questions from the judge about how the rules impinge on free speech, as the...

"Stealing America"

Posted on August 01, 2008
Andrew O'Hehir writes on his Beyond the Multiplex blog: I don't mind that Dorothy Fadiman's film "Stealing America: Vote by Vote" raises once again the massively vexed question of whether the 2004 presidential election was fixed. That spectral possibility lingers...

Alaska: federal court orders state to provide ballots in Yup'ik (with court doc)

Posted on July 31, 2008
The federal court in Alaska has entered an order requiring the State of Alaska to -- 1. Provide mandatory poll worker training. 2. Hire a language assistance coordinator fluent in Yup’ik. 3. Recruit bilingual poll workers or translators. 4. Provide...

Arizona: GOP accuses Dem candidate of reporting contributions too early

Posted on July 30, 2008
The Arizona Republic reports: The Arizona Republican Party has accused Democrat Bob Lord of violating fundraising laws in a complaint to the Federal Election Commission. The complaint was filed last week and became public earlier this week. Lord, an attorney,...

New group formed -- Americans for Redistricting Reform

Posted on July 30, 2008
From a press release: Today, Americans for Redistricting Reform (ARR), a national nonpartisan umbrella organization committed to raising public awareness of redistricting abuses and promoting solutions that benefit voters and strengthen our democracy, announced its formation and launched a new...

Alabama: new suit over Jefferson County commission vacancy (court doc attached)

Posted on July 30, 2008
The Birmingham News reports: A voter in Jefferson County Commission District 1 filed a federal suit Tuesday asking judges to block the court-ordered Nov. 4 vote for the commission seat unless the election is cleared by the U.S. Justice Department....

California: AG Brown and ballot-initiative sponsors fight over name

Posted on July 30, 2008
The San Francisco Chronicle reports: Attorney General Jerry Brown is trying to stack the deck against a November ballot measure barring same-sex marriage by declaring in his formal ballot description that it "eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry,"...

"Emergency Voting Changes"

Posted on July 29, 2008
John Tanner (of the Justice Department) has an article in the latest Alabama Lawyer on Emergency Voting Changes. By the way, the picture at the bottom of page 295 is not John Tanner....

Obama's strategy to increase the black vote

Posted on July 28, 2008
The Washington Post reports: At the heart of the Obama campaign's strategy is a national effort to increase registration and turnout among the millions of Democratic-inclined Americans who have not been voting, particularly younger people and African Americans...

Nevada: term limits valid, court holds; 21 find their campaigns are over

Posted on July 27, 2008
The Reno Gazette-Journal reports: One day before Nevada's early voting was set to begin, the state Supreme Court confirmed Friday that an amendment to the state Constitution barring public officials from serving more than 12 years is valid -- effectively...

"Black Radio on Obama Is Left’s Answer to Limbaugh "

Posted on July 27, 2008
The New York Times reports: Warren Ballentine, one of black talk radio’s new stars, was on a tear against Senator John McCain as he broadcast from the Greenbriar Mall here last week, blithely dismissing Mr. McCain’s kind words about Senator...

Alabama: parties and candidates have deadline for county commission election

Posted on July 26, 2008
The Birmingham News reports: Jefferson County's Democrat and Republican parties will pick candidates by Aug. 6 in the court-ordered election for the County Commission's District 1 seat, a Circuit Court judge ruled Friday. Independents can qualify to run if they...

New Mexico: Brennan Center sues over voter registration restrictions

Posted on July 24, 2008
The Brennan Center announces: Today the Brennan Center for Justice, along with pro bono law firms Davis Polk & Wardwell and Freedman Boyd Hollander Goldberg & Ives, filed a lawsuit in state court in Albuquerque challenging a New Mexico law...

House Judiciary Committee hearing on "lessons learned from the 2004 presidential election"

Posted on July 24, 2008
The House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing today on Hearing on Lessons Learned from the 2004 Presidential Election. J. Gerald Hebert will be testifying. I have an advance copy of his testimony here....

Alabama: Section 5 case, motion to dismiss or affirm filed in US Supreme Court

Posted on July 23, 2008
This morning, my co-counsel and I filed the Motion to Dismiss or Affirm the appeal of Gov. Riley in Riley v. Plump, No. 07-1460, U.S. Supreme Court. The questions presented are: 1. Whether this Court lacks jurisdiction over the present...

DSCC runs ads in a "gray area"

Posted on July 22, 2008
The Hill reports: National Democrats are trying their luck with a series of candidate ads that inhabit a gray area of the law, and observers say the approach could be a game-changer in the continuing battle over campaign finance reform....

Leadership PACs use most money for non-campaign activities

Posted on July 22, 2008
Marketplace, the public radio program, is running a series this week on leadership PACs: Companies and unions have used political action committees to raise money for congressional candidates for years. Thirty years ago a couple of congressmen copied the idea...

Alabama: new suit on felon voting filed (with court docs attached)

Posted on July 22, 2008
The Birmingham News reports: A lawsuit claims the state of Alabama is violating the constitutional rights of thousands of convicted felons by denying them the right to vote. The suit, filed Monday by the American Civil Liberties Union and the...

How to exceed the limit on campaign contributions

Posted on July 21, 2008
Nate writes at FiveThirtyEight.com: The latest FEC filings reveal that Hillary Clinton's campaign owed more than $25 million in debt as of June 30. The problem is not quite as bad as that initial price tag would suggest, as about...

Are election officials ready for this fall?

Posted on July 21, 2008
The New York Times reports: With millions of new voters heading to the polls this November and many states introducing new voting technologies, election officials and voting monitors say they fear the combination is likely to create long lines, stressed-out...

Pennsylvania: email will be part of the proof in 'bonusgate' prosecution

Posted on July 20, 2008
The Morning Call reports: The year 2004 was a busy one for state lawmakers: a budget showdown, of course. But also passage of a law allowing slots casinos. And a short but intense fall session capping the two-year legislative cycle....

Ohio: judge orders state to put Libertarian Party on ballot

Posted on July 19, 2008
The New York Times reports: Ohio must include the Libertarian Party’s nominees on its ballot in November, a court has ruled, complicating Senator John McCain’s effort to win conservative votes in a hotly contested state rich in electoral votes. The...

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