Politico reports here that the fundraising efforts of Senators Obama and Clinton have strained the capacity of the capacity of software used by the FEC. … Continue reading
Dan Tokaji
The Miami Herald has this report on the efforts of Okaloosa County, Florida. It begins: “A small Panhandle county that is home to one of the world’s largest air bases [Eglin Air Force Base] is embarking on a sweeping experiment … Continue reading
The AP has this report on proceedings in Gonzalez v. Arizona, and related cases challenging Arizona’s ID requirement. The briefs may be found here. Trial is scheduled to start July 1. … Continue reading
The Cleveland Plain Dealer offers this editorial on the lingering uncertainty in Ohio’s largest county over the voting equipment to be used in November. The issue is whether Cuyahoga County will use precinct-based scanners that gives voters notice of overvotes. … Continue reading
BNA has this story (subscription required), which reports that the Campaign Legal Center has urged the Attorney General “to beef up efforts to enforce the Lobbying Disclosure Act, following reports by BNA that the Justice Department has done little to … Continue reading
The Politico offers this report on the challenges these candidate face given their acceptance of public financing — though Edwards would-be dilemma now appears to be moot given his imminent withdrawal. … Continue reading
Project Vote has released this report by Benjamin Spears, examining rates of voter participation in Ohio. Among its findings, according to the press release, are: – Ohio’s population become more diverse from 2002 to 2006; in part because of a … Continue reading
Bob Bauer offers these thoughts growing out of the prosecution of Geoffrey Fieger for alleged campaign finance violations. … Continue reading
The New York Times reports here on the efforts of 527s and other groups supporting Senator Obama’s candidacy. … Continue reading
The NYT’s politics blog has this report. See here for more, including a discussion of the potential for litigation. … Continue reading
Early voting is way up in Tennessee according to this post from Paul Gronke on the Election Updates blog. … Continue reading
The AP reports here that fewer than half of Georgia voters who lacked the required photo ID had their votes counted, though the numbers are small. … Continue reading
The Sun Sentinel offers this report on Election Day in the Sunshine State. The Palm Beach Post reports here and Florida Today here on some scattered glitches. … Continue reading
No, this isn’t about Ohio. See here for Foreign Policy magazine’s summary of different ways in which “autocratic regimes have become adept at manipulating ‘free and fair elections’ to stay in power.” … Continue reading
The New York Times offers this report. … Continue reading
Indiana’s Secretary of State Todd Rokita and American University’s Bob Pastor debate the question here on Stateline.org. … Continue reading
Project Vote has released this report by Jody Herman and Douglas Hess on Colorado’s Compliance with the National Voting Registration Act (NVRA) at public assistance offices. According to this press release, the report finds “consistently low rates of registration in … Continue reading
The Miami Herald has this story on the Justice Department’s plans to monitor Broward County polling places today. … Continue reading
The ACLU has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop Cuyahoga County from replacing its touchscreen voting system with a central-count optical scan system. The ACLU’s press release and papers may be found here, and the AP has … Continue reading
Newsday offers this editorial on New York’s ongoing efforts to comply with the Help America Vote Act by replacing its lever voting machines and providing accessible technology — two years after these requirements went into effect. … Continue reading
The Columbus Dispatch has this report, the Cincinnati Enquirer this one, and the AP this one, on the controversy regarding Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner’s proposal to replace the state’s touchscreen voting systems by November. … Continue reading
Today’s LA Times has the first of two parts on “a rush in the state to replace decertified electronic devices with printed ballots and scanners.” … Continue reading
The Federalist Society’s website features the latest round from this debate-in-progress between Allison Hayward and Dave Becker regarding voter ID and the Crawford v. Marion County case. … Continue reading
The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund has released a new report, available here, on obstacles faced by Asian American voters in nine states. According to AALDEF’s press release, the report’s findings include: — Poll workers made improper or … Continue reading
The Dallas Morning News has this story reporting on a hearing on election fraud in Texas –and whether it would be prevented by a proposed law requiring photo ID. … Continue reading
Thomas Mitchell has this column, which responds in part to Nate Persily’s comments on the move from caucuses to primaries (and possibly back again in Nevada). … Continue reading
At Rick’s gracious invitation, I’ll be guest-blogging here for the next couple of days. If you come across something that warrants a post, feel free to email me through the link provided here. — Dan Tokaji … Continue reading
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has this report. … Continue reading
The NY Times has this report on Governor Eliot Spitzer’s efforts to overhaul New York’s campaign finance system. … Continue reading
Prompted by Congress’ ongoing investigation of the Justice Department, Gerry Hebert and Margie Burns each offer thoughts on alleged vote caging by Republican operatives. … Continue reading
Frances Hill has this post on the Campaign Legal Center Blog, prompted by yesterday’s NY Times story on John Edwards’ use of nonprofits. Hill, like Bauer, invokes Casablanca (I’m shocked, shocked …). … Continue reading
Invoking Casablanca (“This place is full of vultures, vultures everywhere!”), Bob Bauer shares these thoughts on watchdog groups’ objections to a proposed disclosure requirement for those filing ethics complaints reported in The Hill. … Continue reading
Exercising one of its responsibilities under HAVA, the Election Assistance Commission has accredited InfoGuard Labs, as the third voting system testing lab. See this press release. More on the accreditation process may be found here and here. Earlier this month, … Continue reading
The Campaign Finance Institute has issued this report, written by Michael J. Malbin and Sean A. Cain. From the press release announcing the report: This is the first study in a multi-year effort, The CFI Small Donor Project. The aim … Continue reading
The Washington Post has this report. … Continue reading
The Charlotte Observer has this editorial criticizing North Carolina Auditor Les Merritt, who caused the state senate to delay voting on a same-day registration bill as noted here and here. … Continue reading
Michael Richardson offers these thoughts. … Continue reading
The Ohio State Law Journal has now posted this page with links to the papers being published in its two-issue symposium. They include the following: -Edward Foley, The Ohio State University, Election Law and the Roberts Court: An Introduction -Richard … Continue reading
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Wan Kim testified yesterday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which focused on allegations that career attorneys were pushed aside to (in the reported words of Brad Schlozman) “make room for some good Americans.” Kim … Continue reading
See reports here and here on the vote that Ontario, Canada will have in the fall on whether to move to a mixed-member proportional system that was proposed by the Citizens’ Assembly on Election Reform. Heather Gerken has written on … Continue reading
Ballot Access News has this report on the court of appeals decision in Nader v Maryland State Board of Elections, which “struck down a Maryland law that says signatures must be segregated by county, and that if someone from the … Continue reading
The AP has this story on New York State’s continuing struggle to comply with the Help America Vote Act. … Continue reading
A City Council election in Bath, WV is tied after the counting of provisional ballots, according to this report. … Continue reading
Bob Bauer has these thoughts in response to Linda Greenhouse’s “Precedents Begin to Fall for Roberts Court” in today’s NY Times. (There’s no opinion in WRTL today, by the way.) … Continue reading
The AP has this report on the North Carolina Senate’s 33-15 vote in favor of a bill that would allow registration and immediate voting in the 2 1/2 weeks before an election at designated “one-stop” voting sites. See here for … Continue reading
The Sun-Sentinel offers this report and the Palm Beach Post this one, on Palm Beach County commissioners reluctance to comply with a new state law outlawing paperless voting systems. The county estimates that the switch from touchscreen to optical-scan voting … Continue reading
Balkinization now has the fifth and final installment in Heather Gerken’s “Setting the Agenda” series. Here’s an excerpt: … I’ll close by saying a bit about the underlying assumptions behind the proposals I have described and explaining why I think … Continue reading
You can now find statements and video from yesterday’s hearing on S. 1285 here on the Senate Rules and Administration Committee site. Nick Nyhart, who testified at the hearing, offers his thoughts on the hearing here on the Huffington Post. … Continue reading
Gerry Hebert offers these thoughts on Hans von Spakovsky’s testimony before the Senate Rules Committee last week. A snippet: “His answers for the most part consisted of a three prong defense: I don’t recall; I was not making the decisions, … Continue reading
The event will take place on August 6, 2007 in Boston. See here for more details, including the program schedule. … Continue reading