Re: Electionlawblog news and commentary 11/11/2005 -addendum

Felon Wins School Board Election, After Apparently Lying on His Declaration of Candidacy

This news has been getting some attention in Southern California. I heard Shaun Bowler on the radio yesterday attributing the felon's election to the ballot order effect----the felon was listed first.

New 5 Volume Compendium: United States Commission on Civil Rights: Reports on Voting

You can find information about this important set edited by Jack Chin and Lori Wagner here.

"Dover won't challenge Scott's election"

See this news from New Hampshire, which begins: City officials plan no action against newly elected councilor David Scott, who violated campaign rules by overspending during his race for the City Council. But they indicated that if a resident files a complaint the city will investigate it. A subsequent court decision could disqualify the defendant and allow for fines." Another snippet: "On election day, Scott said he was aware of the spending limits, but feels they do not apply as the Constitution of the United States gives him the right to spend as much as he wants to promote himself. According to the documents he filed, Scott only received $1,095 from others, but contributed $626 of his own money."

"Florida High court strikes down election law"

AP offers this report, which begins: "A law that let the secretary of state refuse a candidate's request to quit the ballot is unconstitutional, the Florida Supreme Court said Thursday although the Legislature earlier this year had repealed the statute."

"Students: Renew Voting Rights Act"

The Michigan Daily offers this report.

Gerken and Elmendorf on Citizen Assemblies to Confront Redistricting Reform

See this post by Heather Gerken and Chris Elmendorf on the failure of redistricting measures in California and Ohio. I'll be offering my own take on Ohio and California soon.

"State to study late vote counts"

AP offers this report, which begins: "Election boards in some Ohio counties are irate and embarrassed by vote-counting delays that held up results for hours, and state officials said Thursday they will try to find out what went wrong. Machine problems were blamed in some counties, lack of training in others as nearly half of Ohio's 88 counties used touch screen or optical scan systems for the first time."

Prop. 77 is Over, But the Litigation Lives On!

The California Supreme Court has set December 7 as the day to hear oral argument in the Prop. 77 case, raising the question of the propriety of pre-election review of initiatives. This even though Prop. 77 went down to defeat on Tuesday. I think this is a very good development from the point of view of clarity of the law. As I argued in this oped, the state of the law as it is now is a mess.

FEC General Counsel's Draft Opinion in "Fired Up" Matter Would Treat Blog/Website as Entitled to Press Exemption for Its News and Commentaries

This draft advisory opinion, if adopted, would go a long way toward exempting a number of blogs from many campaign finance regulations. (Via Bob Bauer). The Skeptic weighs in too. In related news, bloggers Kos and Krempasky (Daily Kos and Redstate, respectively, has written this letter opposing the Shays-Meehan internet campaign finance bill. UPDATE: Shays-Meehan respond.

Alabama Felon Disenfranchisement Case

Ed Still has filed a case attacking Alabama's felon disenfranchisement administration. For details, see here.

Redistricting Briefing

The following announcement arrived via e-mail:

Tuesday, November 15, 2005
9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

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

On Tuesday, November 8, voters in California and Ohio rejected state constitutional amendments that would reform the process for redrawing congressional and legislative districts. Opponents of the measures cheered the prevention of a "partisan power grab," while supporters lamented their failure to de-politicize the redistricting process.

Though the results from the Ohio and California initiatives are settled, the issue of redistricting remains alive and controversial. As political polarization increases and electoral competition decreases, the question of how legislative district boundaries are drawn will only grow more pressing.

Three of the country's leading experts on redistricting will discuss the initiatives and their impact on the future of redistricting reform. Brookings Senior Fellow Thomas Mann will moderate the discussion with Bruce E. Cain, the Robson Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, and director of its Institute of Governmental Studies, and Michael P. McDonald, assistant professor of government and politics at George Mason University and a Brookings visiting fellow. Mann, Cain, and McDonald are also contributors to Party Lines: Competition, Partisanship, and Congressional Redistricting (Brookings 2005).

-- 
Rick Hasen
William H. Hannon Distinguished Professor of Law
Loyola Law School
919 South Albany Street
Los Angeles, CA  90015-0019
(213)736-1466 - voice
(213)380-3769 - fax
rick.hasen@lls.edu
http://www.lls.edu/academics/faculty/hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org

I neglected to include the following important link:

"For Election Reform, a Heartening Defeat"