Subject: news of the day 5/2/05
From: Rick Hasen
Date: 5/2/2005, 7:48 AM
To: election-law

"Governor battle back in court"

See this Tacoma News-Tribune report, with the subhead: "Political parties to debate evidence that can be used in election lawsuit." It begins: "If a judge today allows Republicans to use a mathematical formula to prove that Dino Rossi got more votes than Christine Gregoire in last fall’s governor’s race, it would boost the GOP’s case and set an important precedent in state election law." In related news, the Seattle Times offers Democrats claim GOP skipped 432 felon voters, which begins: " Democrats said yesterday that they've found 432 felons who appear to have voted illegally in November but were ignored by Republicans in their legal challenge to the governor's election. Republicans left those felons out of their case, Democrats say, because the illegal votes came from parts of the state that supported Republican Dino Rossi in his race against Christine Gregoire, boosting the chances that they were in Rossi's favor. " You can find some earlier analysis of this question at this post.


A High-Stakes Battle Over 527s"

Eliza Newlin Carney offers this "Rules of the Game" column at the National Journal.


"Ballot party order protested"

See this report from New Hampshire, whibh begins: "When it comes to elections, Rep. Charlie Yeaton says he has it rough. His last name and membership in the Democratic party relegate him to the bottom of the ballot, a slot he thinks may be costing him votes. Which is why Yeaton and a handful of other lawmakers with similar complaints asked a Merrimack Country Superior Court judge yesterday to help them out. They want to overturn a state law that puts the most powerful political party first on the ballot. The law, they say, gives an unfair advantage to Republicans, who have secured the top ballot slot for 40 years. They'd also like the state to stop listing candidates in alphabetical order." See also here. Thanks to James Alcorn for the pointer. 
-- 
Rick Hasen
William H. Hannon Distinguished Professor of Law
Loyola Law School
919 Albany Street
Los Angeles, CA  90015-1211
(213)736-1466
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rick.hasen@lls.edu
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http://electionlawblog.org