[EL] response to Marty Lederman post on the Supreme Court's decision about Wisconsin's elections today

[Paul Gronke]

One quick reply to Jim, and a request for Rick.

To Jim Gardner’s point below, that has been my personal experience in Oregon and being on the ground on and after Election Day in Washington. I don’t necessarily agree that the time period is “fluid and uncertain” — at least in these two states, the “election period” is quite distinctive because:

	1) Ballots are mailed 14 to 18 days before an election, and voter’s guides appear in our mailbox a week or so prior to that.

	2) Folks with data on advertising can confirm this, but my distinct impression is that advertisements, mobilization messages, and similar also ramp up at almost exactly the same point.

	3) The “election period” begins to heat up one week before Election Day, a time when most Oregonians begin to return their ballots in large numbers.

It may not be the same as the excitement and hoopla of Election Day, but it’s a identifiable period of time, bounded by the day the ballots are mailed and by Election Day.

One interesting twist on this is Washington State, and perhaps other states that don’t require the ballot to arrive on Election Day, but only be postmarked on Election Day. Washingtonians—citizens, journalists, and politicians—don’t expect final results on Election Night. They expect the results to come in and be finalized over a 2-3 day period. That’s the nature of their system.

===

To Rick: I wonder if it would be possible to tag / mark / archive the postings over the past few days over the Wisconsin case. I’ve had a hard time keeping up with the conversation,  but it’s invaluable and educational, and it would be great to be able to refer back to it if and when things calm down.

Thanks, and I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy,

Yours
Paul Gronke

---
Paul Gronke
Professor, Reed College
Director, Early Voting Information Center
http://earlyvoting.net

General Inquiries: Laura Swann swannla at reed.edu

Media Inquiries: Kevin Myers myersk at reed.edu

> On Apr 7, 2020, at 9:29 AM, Gardner, James <jgard at buffalo.edu> wrote:
> 
> Further to Jeff’s last point, I wonder if the advent of universal voting by mail and early voting hasn’t simply undermined the concept of an election “day.”  Seems we now have an election “period,” the boundaries of which may seem quite fluid and uncertain in the public mind.  Obviously, there needs to be close even to a prolonged election period, but I’m not so sure that it is obvious that the relevant date needs to correspond to the moment when in-person polling ceases.  A lot might depend on the state’s practice of reporting results.  If we want people to vote without knowing how others have voted, and the state were to start reporting partial results immediate after the in-person polls close, then casting as vote after the polls close must be prohibited.  But if the state doesn’t report partial results, maybe it doesn’t matter?  Just thinking out loud here.
> 
> Jim
> 
> ___________________________
> James A. Gardner
> Bridget and Thomas Black SUNY Distinguished Professor of Law
> Research Professor of Political Science
> University at Buffalo School of Law
> The State University of New York
> Room 514, O'Brian Hall
> Buffalo, NY 14260-1100
> voice: 716-645-3607
> fax: 716-645-2064
> e-mail: jgard at buffalo.edu <mailto:jgard at buffalo.edu>
> www.law.buffalo.edu <http://www.law.buffalo.edu/>
> Papers at http://ssrn.com/author=40126 <http://ssrn.com/author=40126>
> 

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