Election-Campaign Law

Supreme Court and Money in Elections

By Thad Hall

The Supreme Court is expected to toss out at least some of the bans on corporate and union money in elections. This will likely have a direct impact on election administration in at least two ways. First, it will lead to increased spending designed to mobilize voters, which will add new strains on the voting process. Such mobilizations may increase voting in some modes — think unexpectedly high levels of early voting or unexpected turnout on election day — that were unexpected and this can cause longer lines, problems with voter registration, and other strains on the system.

In addition, if money leads voters to question why a certain candidate won or lost, it may result in a flurry of claims of election fraud that could undermine people’s confidence in the voting process. In short, people who think that worries about the election process are over now that the 2008 presidential election went well should rethink their confidence. Things may become much more contentious in the near term.

See this link for a story about what is expected from the Supreme Court on campaign spending.

Full post as published by Election Updates on January 09, 2010 (boomark / email).