[EL] Breaking: Indiana SOS Removed from Office; More News

Thu Dec 22 15:47:57 PST 2011

Without opining on the legal merits of the Court's decision, this case seems very much to vindicate Rick's longstanding argument that matters that are not raised before an election ought not be allowed to be raised after the election.

In this case, questions about Mr. White's eligibility could have been raised and decided before the election, since they would have been known more than 3 months before election day. As it is, Mr. White defeated Mr. Osili 57% to 37%. The other 6% went to a Libertarian Candidate, and while I don't know much about that particular Libertarian's campaign or appeal, historically LP voters break about 2 to 1 Republican for their second choice, though of course some also would simply not vote. But clearly, by any standard, Mr. White won in a landslide.

While I do not take the laws lightly, even assuming that the judge's decision on residency is correct (the judge is an elected Democrat, which should give fodder for discussions about electing judges to both sides), it would not represent an intentional violation of the law, or a crime indicating unfitness for office, etc., and it almost certainly would have made no difference in the election results.

I do think it would be cool to have the nation's first ever Secretary of State named "Vop." On the other hand, if I were a betting man, I would bet that a year from now Charles White will still be Indiana Secretary of State.

Bradley A. Smith

Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault

   Professor of Law

Capital University Law School

303 E. Broad St.

Columbus, OH 43215

614.236.6317

http://law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.aspx

________________________________
From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] on behalf of Rick Hasen [rhasen at law.uci.edu]
Sent: Thursday, December 22, 2011 4:18 PM
To: law-election at UCI.EDU
Subject: [EL] Breaking: Indiana SOS Removed from Office; More News

Breaking (and Major) News: Indiana Secretary of State White Removed from Office by Trial Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26942>
Posted on December 22, 2011 1:17 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26942> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The ruling is here<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/WhiteRuling_2011_12_22.pdf>.  If there is no (successful) appeal, the second place finisher, Democrat Vop Osili, becomes Indiana’s Secretary of State.

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Posted in SOS White<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=13> | Comments Off
“First Amendment in the Modern Age”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26939>
Posted on December 22, 2011 12:42 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26939> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Washington Law Review is putting on this event<http://www.law.washington.edu/wlr/firstamendment.pdf>, featuring a lecture by Yale’s Robert Post, and responses by Professor Stephen Vladeck of American University, Bruce Johnson of Davis Wright Tremaine, and Professor Clark Lombardi of the University of Washington.

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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1> | Comments Off
“Ethics Extends Vern Buchanan Investigation”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26937>
Posted on December 22, 2011 12:40 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26937> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Roll Call reports<http://www.rollcall.com/news/ethics_extends_vern_buchanan_investigation-211238-1.html?pos=hln>.

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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, ethics investigations<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=42> | Comments Off
Congratulations to Josh Douglas<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26935>
Posted on December 22, 2011 12:39 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26935> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Josh<http://www.law.uky.edu/index.php?hid=93> is one of the winners of the SEALS paper competition<http://sealslawschools.org/?p=1044> for 2011-12, for his draft paper, Procedural Fairness in Election Contests.

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Posted in election law biz<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51> | Comments Off
“A Look Back at 2011″<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26932>
Posted on December 22, 2011 12:34 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26932> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

That’s the lead story in this week’s Electionline Weekly<http://www.electionline.org/index.php/electionline-weekly>.

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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> | Comments Off
” Pew’s Latest Dispatch: Removing Voters from the Rolls”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26930>
Posted on December 22, 2011 12:33 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26930> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Doug Chapin blogs<http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/peea/2011/12/pews_latest_dispatch_removing.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HHHElections+%28Program+for+Excellence+in+Election+Administration%29>.

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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> | Comments Off
“All States (super districts): Open Up Elections With Proportional Voting”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26927>
Posted on December 22, 2011 12:31 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26927> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Elise Helgesen and Rob Richie blog<http://electls.blogs.wm.edu/2011/12/22/all-states-super-districts-open-up-elections-with-proportional-voting/>.

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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1> | Comments Off
“Comment to SEC on Corporate Political Spending Disclosure Petition”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26925>
Posted on December 22, 2011 12:29 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26925> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Brennan Center comments<http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/comment_to_sec_on_corporate_political_spending_disclosure_petition/>.

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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | Comments Off
--
Rick Hasen
Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
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http://electionlawblog.org
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