Election-Campaign Law

Mississippi: 5th Circuit vacates party registration and voter I.D. case

Posted on May 28, 2008
AP reports: The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a ruling that would have forced Mississippians to register by political party and to show photo identification at the polls to be able to vote. The Mississippi Democratic Party...

Massachusetts: GOP candidate may be excluded from US Senate ballot

Posted on May 28, 2008
The Boston Globe reports: When the deadline for certification passed yesterday, Jim Ogonowski, the Republican leadership's choice to challenge US Senator John F. Kerry, was 82 signatures short of qualifying for the GOP primary ballot, according to the state's central...

Mississippi: "It's almost like I was exiled from the country"

Posted on May 28, 2008
The Daily Journal reports: When asked about his favorite candidate in this year s presidential race, 31-year-old Steven Hubbard didn t hesitate to say, "Obama's my man." But that's where his political voice ends. Hubbard, a convicted felon from Tupelo,...

Texas: 2 voting rights cases stir the state

Posted on May 28, 2008
The Gadsden Times reports: “Vote or Die,” exhorts the faded slogan on a roadway at Prairie View A&M University, where black students once marched for the right to vote here in the town where they attend school, on a former...

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Alabama: Governor crows over small "victory" in Supreme Court

Posted on May 28, 2008
The Birmingham News reports: The ability of Alabama s governor to fill a vacancy on the Mobile County Commission was strengthened by the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, but the decision will not stop a similar legal battle over a seat...

Florida: Okaloosa County to allow Internet voting by military overseas

Posted on May 27, 2008
The Miami Herald reports: A small Panhandle county that is home to one of the world s largest air bases is embarking on a sweeping experiment in Internet voting that could transform elections in the 21st century. But the push...

Arizona: state asks for dismissal of voter I.D. challenge

Posted on May 27, 2008
AP reports: State officials say a challenge to Arizona requirements for voter identification and proof of citizenship should be thrown out in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding Indiana s voter ID law. The ruling on Indiana...

Arizona: Democrats appeal redistricting decision

Posted on May 27, 2008
AP reports: Democrats challenging Arizona s legislative districts are appealing a court ruling that leaves the map in place and sets a high legal bar for challengers to clear. Lawyers for the challengers are asking the Arizona Supreme Court to...

Bloggers complain about lack of diversity in blogger corps selected for Demo Convention

Posted on May 27, 2008
The Washington Post reports: With the Democratic National Convention less than three months away, and with Web pundits playing an even bigger role during the four-day event, a whole other drama is chewing up the blogosphere -- and the often...

Embezzlement a problem for campaign committees

Posted on May 27, 2008
The New York Times reports: In Republican circles, Christopher J. Ward was the go-to guy for politicians who needed help managing their campaign finances. As a staff member at the National Republican Congressional Committee and its treasurer since 2003, Mr...

Libertarians pick Bob Barr as Presidential candidate

Posted on May 26, 2008
As Rob Richie has pointed out, the Libertarians used a live-action version of instant runoff voting choose their presidential and VP candidates. To review the voting, go to the Official Website of the Libertarian National Committee. The lowest polling candidate...

"Military Chief Warns Troops About Politics"

Posted on May 26, 2008
The New York Times reports: The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has written an unusual open letter to all those in uniform, warning them to stay out of politics as the nation approaches a presidential election in which...

Florida: new suit against DNC over seating delegates

Posted on May 26, 2008
The Miami Herald reports: Florida s history of discrimination against African Americans should force the national Democratic Party to count all of the state s delegates at its national convention, a federal lawsuit filed Thursday claims. The suit, filed by...

Obama has too many contributors for old computer programs to handle

Posted on May 26, 2008
Politico reports: The record-shattering fundraising by Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has reshaped the financing of presidential elections and generated breathless coverage and analysis of the otherwise arcane area of campaign finance...

UK: Electoral Commission member calls for election-law overhaul

Posted on May 26, 2008
The Herald reports: Electoral law needs a major overhaul, clearer accountability to voters, with more flexible investigation powers and penalties to take on illegal fundraising, according to Scotland s chief elections adviser. John McCormick, the member of the Electoral Commission...

Scotland: campaign finance rules will vary depending on who calls referendum on independence from UK

Posted on May 26, 2008
The Herald reports: A referendum on independence could lead to unfair and unbalanced campaigning by political parties if it were called by Holyrood, it has emerged. John McCormick, the Electoral Commission s Scottish member, said yesterday that the current election...

Texas: LULAC suit against Texas Democratic Party dismissed (updated with court docs attached)

Posted on May 23, 2008
The Houston Chronicle reports: A federal judge sided with the Texas Democratic Party on Thursday in a lawsuit filed by Latino voter advocates who said the party's method for apportioning presidential delegates is discriminatory. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery in...

Alabama: Governor files Jurisdictional Statement in another Section 5 case

Posted on May 22, 2008
Gov. Riley has filed his Jurisdictional Statement in Riley v. Plump. His questions presented are: 1. Whether the decisions of a covered jurisdiction's highest court concerning the validity of a precleared state law, or, in the alternative, an appointment made...

Information needed from my readers on Voter I.D.

Posted on May 22, 2008
If you have access to one of the following, please leave a comment telling me whether the document has (1) the name and address of the holder, (2) a photo, and (3) a date showing its period of validity. Alabama-specific...

Michigan: Feiger's "I researched it" defense

Posted on May 22, 2008
Crain's Detroit Business reports: High-profile lawyer Geoffrey Fieger described Wednesday how he spent part of a weekend in his firm s library doing research that convinced him that reimbursing employees and others for political donations was legal. But Fieger, who...

NRCC spends money to find embezzled money

Posted on May 22, 2008
The Washington Post reports: As if the spring hasn t been tough enough on House Republicans, there is also the issue of bills piling up from the investigations into the alleged embezzlement scheme at the National Republican Congressional Committee. New...

Massachusetts: replacing Kennedy

Posted on May 22, 2008
AP reports: People in Massachusetts suddenly are thinking the unthinkable: Who possibly could succeed Sen. Edward Kennedy, patriarch of the famed political family that has dominated the state for more than four decades? ... Unlike most states, Kennedy's successor would...

Alabama: state supreme court to hear arguments on Jefferson County commission vacancy

Posted on May 21, 2008
The Birmingham News reports: The dispute over who should be the District 1 representative on the Jefferson County Commission will be argued before the Alabama Supreme Court on June 4. The court set oral arguments in the appeal of Circuit...

IRS clears Southern Baptist minister's endorsement of Huckabee

Posted on May 21, 2008
The Associated Baptist Press reports: Southern Baptist pastor-personality Wiley Drake did not violate tax law by using his church’s letterhead or his radio show to endorse Mike Huckabee, he announced May 18. Drake, pastor of the 75-member First Southern Baptist...

IRS finally clears UCC for Obama speech

Posted on May 21, 2008
The On Faith blog of the Washington Post reports: Today the United Church of Christ, the national church to which presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama belongs, announced that the Internal Revenue Service has found “that the activity about which we...

Puerto Rico has more delegates than Alabama??

Posted on May 21, 2008
Mooncat writes on Left in Alabama: Puerto Rico gets 63 delegates to the Democratic Convention and Alabama only gets 60! What is up with that? We're a state, we're bigger, we have better football teams and they still get three...

Southern regional meeting of superdelegates

Posted on May 21, 2008
I just received an email announcing a "DNC Southern Caucus" meeting on June 19-21 in Mobile, Alabama. One hundred three superdelegates and "regional elected officials" from 13 Southern States will be meeting. Are similar regional meetings being held in other...

Michigan: prosecution rests in Fieger trial

Posted on May 20, 2008
The Detroit News reports: The government on Monday closed its criminal case against high-profile Southfield attorney Geoffrey Fieger and his law partner Ven Johnson. The United States rest, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynn Helland said after defense lawyers finished cross examining...

Alabama: PAC-to-PAC transfers bill killed

Posted on May 20, 2008
The Birmingham News reports: A proposed ban on the shuffling of money between political action committees died on the final night of the legislative session. The campaign finance reform measure died in conference committee despite having been the first bill...

Alabama: incumbent forgets to qualify for short term

Posted on May 20, 2008
The Birmingham News reports: "Election law is really quirky," said Sid Browning, Jefferson County supervisor of elections. "This is a prime example. It's really confusing." ... Even if incumbent Bessemer Division Tax Assessor Andy Smith wins the November general election,...

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