"Redistricting initiative would set state apart; But opponents blast Proposition 77 as a 'reckless experiment'"

The SF Chronicle offers this report. In somewhat related news, the LA Times offers Campaign Finance Laws Vex Gov., Foes.

"Life Without the Critical Fifth Vote"

The National Law Journal offers this report, which includes an extensive discussion of the campaign finance cases the Supreme Court will hear this term, with or without Justice O'Connor.

"E-voting hobbled by security concerns"

C|NET News offers this report.

Miers' Role in 2000 Election Litigation

See this Wall Street Journal report (offered without registration), which begins: "President Bush cites many accomplishments of Harriet Miers to explain her nomination to the Supreme Court. One the White House doesn't mention is her successful argument during the disputed 2000 election that Dick Cheney is definitely not a Texan."

"Results cast doubt on future of election financing initiative"

NJ.com offers this report, which begins: "The pilot program for "Clean and Fair Elections" fell well short of its goal this year, and the commission overseeing it remained noncommittal yesterday on how, or if, it will be used in the 2007 state Senate elections." Thanks to Bill Corbett for the pointer.

"The Future of Campaign Finance: Congress, the FEC, and the Courts"

The following invitation arrived via e-mail:

A BROOKINGS BRIEFING

The Future of Campaign Finance: Congress, the FEC, and the Courts
Thursday, October 20, 2005
10:00 a.m. –11:30 a.m.

The Brookings Institution
Falk Auditorium
1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC

Campaign finance is yet again under the microscope as politicians, regulators, political parties, interest groups and courts grapple with the fallout from recent reforms. Controversy has arisen over the status of new section 527 organizations, the regulation of political advertising on the Internet, and the future of the presidential public funding system.

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 was implemented for the 2004 election but uncertainty remains about its impact and future. Congress has several bills to amend federal election law; the FEC is involved in investigations and rulemaking that could redefine the meaning of the law, and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear two important campaign finance cases this term.

Three of the country’s leading experts on campaign finance reform and coauthors of The New Campaign Finance Sourcebook (Brookings 2005), will discuss what was learned from the 2004 election cycle and what developments in Congress, the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and the courts lie ahead. Senior Fellow Thomas Mann will moderate the discussion with Brookings coauthors Anthony Corrado – the Charles A. Dana Professor of Government at Colby College and a nonresident senior fellow – and Trevor Potter, former FEC chair and now a Brookings nonresident senior fellow.

Speakers will take questions after their remarks.

Introduction:
Thomas Mann
Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution

Panelists:
Anthony Corrado
Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
Charles A. Dana Professor of Government, Colby College, Waterville, Maine

Trevor Potter
Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
Former Federal Election Commission Chair

RSVP: Please call the Brookings Office of Communications, 202/797-6105, or by e-mail at communications@brookings.edu or online at http://www.brookings.edu/eventregistration

"Federal Judge Quashes Subpoenas Issued to Reform Groups in Campaign Finance Case"

The Campaign Legal Center has issued this very interesting press release, which begins:

Washington -- A federal trial judge in Washington handed a victory to pro-reform groups in a key campaign finance case today, ruling that subpoenas issued to the groups were irrelevant, burdensome and unduly oppressive.

The case - North Carolina Right to Life v. Leake - involves a challenge to a North Carolina law that limits contributions to independent expenditure political committees. The Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21, two leading campaign finance reform groups, filed an amicus - or "friend of the court" - brief in the case arguing that the law was a constitutional exercise of North Carolina's power to fight political corruption.

The attorney for the right to life group - James Bopp, Jr., a campaign finance reform opponent - asked the court to re-open the completed discovery process and demanded the two groups provide detailed information about contacts between these groups and 28 other organizations, including National Public Radio. Among many other things, the requests sought information about the sources of the groups' funding.

More on Miers and Election Law

See Bob Bauer here and this KRT report (link via Ed Still).

"The Biggest Election Case Since Bush v. Gore?"

See Ned Foley's Electionlaw@Moritz comment, Federal Courts Should Not Run State Elections, on League of Women Voters v. Blackwell. Foley suggests the case may be quite significant.

-- 
Rick Hasen
William H. Hannon Distinguished Professor of Law
Loyola Law School
919 Albany Street
Los Angeles, CA  90015-1211
(213)736-1466
(213)380-3769 - fax
rick.hasen@lls.edu
http://www.lls.edu/academics/faculty/hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org