Election-Campaign Law

Ohio: county elections board revokes prosecutor's voter registration because of non-residency

Posted on January 24, 2008
The Coshocton Tribune reports: The Morgan County Board of Elections has determined Prosecutor Rick Welch is not a qualified elector and his right to vote in the county has been revoked. Now the acting county prosecutor will be reviewing whether...

Super Tuesday may not turn out so great

Posted on January 24, 2008
Jeff Greenfield writes on Slate.com: Remember all the lamentations, the rending of garments, the gnashing of teeth over the outsize power of two small, unrepresentative states over the presidential nomination process? Well, never mind. It turns out that the apparent...

Georgia: Obama asks for investigation of pro-Obama robo-calls

Posted on January 23, 2008
AP reports: The heated racial politics in the Feb. 5 Democratic primary in Georgia just got turned up a notch. Barack Obama's campaign has asked Georgia's attorney general to investigate anonymous "robocalls" made to Atlanta-area residents taking aim at Rep...

UK: Electoral Commission admits "weakness"

Posted on January 23, 2008
The Herald reports: The Electoral Commission has admitted fundamental weaknesses in its ability to probe allegations of illegal donations to political parties. An official document seen by The Herald shows that detailed procedures and guidance on how investigations should be...

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Alabama: "Let my people vote" campaign

Posted on January 23, 2008
WSFA TV reports: An organization working to restore the voting rights of ex-felons is touring the state. On Tuesday, the Let My People Vote Campaign stopped in Montgomery to get their message out. For the past five years the Let...

New York: Port Chester at-large system violates Voting Rights Act [updated: court docs attached]

Posted on January 23, 2008
The Auburn Citizen reports: A suburban village has been violating the Voting Rights Act by using an election system that leaves its rapidly growing Hispanic population without representation, a federal judge said Tuesday. The decision against Port Chester, on the...

Alabama: federal court rules, Governor must seek preclearance in order to appoint a commissioner in Jefferson County (news story)

Posted on January 23, 2008
The Birmingham News reports: A three-judge panel ruled Tuesday that Gov. Bob Riley should have obtained federal approval before filling the Jefferson County Commission's District 1 seat, but the judges did not immediately remove his appointee, George Bowman, from office...

Alabama: four amicus briefs filed on Governor's side in Section 5 Supreme Court appeal (court docs attached) [updated]

Posted on January 22, 2008
Two Four amicus briefs have been filed today supporting Gov. Riley's position in Riley v. Kennedy, a Section 5 case. More later. You can download the briefs here: Thernstrom brief , Project on Fair Representation, Charles Fried brief, and the...

Alabama: fed court rules, Governor must seek preclearance in order to appoint a commissioner in Jefferson County (court docs attached)

Posted on January 22, 2008
The 3-judge district court has ruled for the plaintiff in Plump v. Riley. More on this later. Disclosure: Jim Blacksher and I represent the plaintiff in this case. The opinion and judgment are attached....

North Carolina: NAACP protests GOP lawsuit to force legislative re-redistricting

Posted on January 22, 2008
The Daily Tar Heel reports: The N.C. NAACP is protesting a lawsuit that seeks to make North Carolina comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, claiming the suit undermines the act's intent. The lawsuit, filed by a group of...

North Carolina: GOP sues for re-redistricting of legislative districts (court docs attached)

Posted on January 22, 2008
AP reports: It's another election season and North Carolina voters could again be confused by a redistricting lawsuit that alleges state legislative boundaries drawn by the General Assembly are illegal. If a federal three-judge panel in New Bern sides this...

Florida: MLK Unity Breakfast honors Gov. Crist

Posted on January 22, 2008
The Miami Herald reports: As the nation celebrated the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s quest for justice, Gov. Charlie Crist was honored Monday for reforming state clemency rules and helping the family of Martin Lee Anderson, the black teenager who...

Mississippi: "it was time for me to get out of my comfort zone"

Posted on January 22, 2008
CentralOhio.com reports: Mississippi was a brutal place in the civil-rights era of the 1960s, from the perspective of two veterans of the movement who were there -- Flonzie Goodloe Brown-Wright and Hellen O Neal-McCray. They shared their experiences Monday morning...

Florida: felons' voting rights restored, but with long delays

Posted on January 22, 2008
NPR's All Things Considered reports: Shortly after he was elected a year ago, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist pushed through changes that make it easier for released felons to get their civil rights restored. That process, though, has left many dissatisfied...

Nevada: Clinton and Obama trade charges of infractions in caucuses

Posted on January 21, 2008
The Trail blog of the Washington Post reports: Apparently the adage "whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" doesn't apply to politics. Tensions between the Obama and Clinton campaigns escalated today when officials traded charges about conduct on the ground...

Over there: Democrats Abroad to hold Internet primary

Posted on January 21, 2008
AP reports: This year, for the first time, expatriate Democrats can cast their ballots on the Internet in a presidential primary for people living outside the United States. Democrats Abroad, an official branch of the party representing overseas voters, will...

Arizona: Dems accuse Shadegg of violating campaign finance laws

Posted on January 21, 2008
The Arizona Republic reports: The Arizona Democratic Party is accusing Republican U.S. Rep. John Shadegg of using his political-action committee to skirt laws that limit the amount of money donors can give a candidate. Democrats say they have drafted a...

Nevada: federal court refuses to shut down at-large caucus sites

Posted on January 18, 2008
The Washington Post reports: A federal judge on Thursday refused to shut down nine casino-based sites for Saturday's caucuses, delivering a victory to Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) in what has become an increasingly bitter Democratic contest here. U.S. District Judge...

Ohio: ACLU sues to require counting OCR ballots in precincts

Posted on January 18, 2008
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports: The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio filed a lawsuit Thursday to block Cuyahoga County's switch to a paper ballot voting system for the March 4 primary election. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court...

Alabama: RIP Prince Albert Jones Sr.

Posted on January 18, 2008
The Montgomery Advertiser reports: Prince Albert Jones Sr. never lived more than five miles from where he was born in the rural Montgomery County community of Mathews. A farmer by trade, the 91-year-old Jones was among the first black landowners...

Florida: 11th Circuit hears argument on SSN-matching

Posted on January 18, 2008
AP reports: Tens of thousands of Floridians will be barred from voting in the 2008 national election if a state voter registration law is allowed to go back into effect, lawyers for minority groups said Friday. In a hearing before...

New York: Scotus says, no right to a "fair shot" at judgeship nomination

Posted on January 17, 2008
The New York Times reports: The challenge to New York’s method for choosing candidates to run in judicial elections ended in failure at the United States Supreme Court on Wednesday when not a single justice accepted the plaintiffs’ claim that...

New York: court approves plan to bring state into HAVA compliance

Posted on January 16, 2008
AP reports: A judge who had threatened to jail elections officials Wednesday approved the state's plan for bringing New York into compliance with federal voting law by making it easier for disabled voters to cast ballots. New York is years...

Nevada: more background on the caucus lawsuit

Posted on January 16, 2008
AP reports: A last-minute federal court battle over caucus rules demonstrates just how important a tight three-way Democratic presidential contest in Nevada has become in the battle for momentum headed into Super Tuesday's votes. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and...

Alabama: federal court hears arguments on Governor's appointment of Jefferson County Commissioner

Posted on January 16, 2008
The Birmingham News reports: Two people might be able to stake a claim to the Jefferson County Commission's District 1 seat after an election scheduled Feb. 5 if a three-judge panel doesn't intervene, attorneys said after a federal court hearing...

Michigan: few Dem crossover voters in GOP primary

Posted on January 16, 2008
The Detroit News reports: Fears of a large crossover vote deciding the contentious Republican primary didn't materialize. The electorate in the GOP contest was predominantly Republican, about one-quarter independent and less than 10 percent Democratic, according to National Election Pool...

Important Public Health Announcement

Posted on January 16, 2008
Even though the video "Why Don't We Do it in Our Sleeves?" is funny, it contains a serious message about not spreading germs from coughing and sneezing. Spend 5 minutes being educated and amused....

Mississippi: judge rules, primary must be held within 90 days

Posted on January 14, 2008
The Clarion-Ledger reports: A Hinds County Circuit judge ruled today that Gov. Haley Barbour exceeded his constitutional authority by setting the special election to replace former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott for November. ... DeLaughter voided Barbour's proclamation that scheduled the...

Nevada: judge says, let Kucinich in

Posted on January 14, 2008
AP reports: A Nevada judge said Monday that Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich must be included in Tuesday's candidates' debate in Nevada. ... The judge sided with a lawyer for the Ohio congressman, who says debate host MSNBC at first....

I'm glad to find out what we election lawyers are good for

Posted on January 14, 2008
Allen Raymond, author of "How to Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative," writes on TPM Cafe: As a Republican campaign operative at the Republican National Committee it was drilled into me that election law attorneys serve the purpose...

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