[EL] election day protection - query

[Denise Lieberman]

Hi Frank, 

Here in Missouri we do have judges on hand on election day to issue orders reinstating people who get rejected at the polls. In big cities like St Louis, they have several judges on call to handle these cases (the "duty judge") who are available early in the a.m. and into the evening through the duration of voting hours even when the courthouse isn't open. 

In some years, the duty judge has set up shop at Election Board headquarters, where voters are typically sent when turned away from their polls when they don't appear on the rolls. 

Oftentimes, the process can be fairly simple, if the election authority confirms the voter's eligibility, and the voter does't necessarily need to be represented by counsel. Nevertheless, we have often placed Election Protection lawyers at Election Board headquarters and sometimes at the courthouses to ensure that those processes are running smoothly. We don't see the duty judges getting a lot of use, but we definitely make sure to get their names and numbers ahead of time so we can assist voters if the need arises.

The most significant example I can recall was the 2000 elections in St. Louis, when hundreds, if not thousands, of voters were wrongly missing from the active rolls due to the City's flawed list maintenance procedures (that later lead to a DOJ consent decree mandating changed procedures). I was at the election board monitoring that day, as hundreds of voters flooded election board headquarters after being turned away from their polls. The duty judge came over from the courthouse across the street and set up shop at the election board so that after people made it through the long line to have their status confirmed, they could get reinstated right there. 

-Denise

Denise Lieberman, Senior Attorney
Advancement Project
1220 L Street NW, Suite 850
Washington, DC 20005
Cell: (314) 780-1833
dlieberman at advancementproject.org
www.advancementproject.org

On Feb 21, 2013, at 2:09 PM, Frank Askin <faskin at kinoy.rutgers.edu> wrote:

>               I am still seeking information as to any states which,
> like New Jersey,  that provide for Election Day judges being available
> to issue Orders to vote to persons rejected at the polls.
> 	Research to date indicates that New York 9(Sec. 16- 108),
> California (Sec. 2142, Election Code), Virginia (Va. Code Ann.  Sec.
> 24.2-422), and possible Louisiana (La. Election Code 18:113) may provide
> authority.
> 	I would like to know if there is any evidence in these states
> that such relief is actually provided on Election Days.  I realize that
> there may well not be any reported opinions (there are none in New
> Jersey but we do have unreported Orders on file); but is there any
> anecdotal information?  Are there any organizations that staff the
> courthouses on election day to help rejected voters obtain orders to
> vote?
> 
> 	And are there any other state which I have missed that fall into
> this category?
> 
> 
> Prof. Frank Askin
> Distinguished Professor of Law       and Director
> Constitutional Litigation Clinic
> Rutgers Law School/Newark
> (973) 353-5687
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