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Election Law @ Moritz

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October, 2006

Below are postings from October, 2006. (See Archives | Recent Headlines)

The South Dakota Referendum on Abortion: An Alternative to Court Review?

Oct. 31 - Earlier this year the South Dakota legislature passed and the governor signed a stiff anti-abortion bill, HB 1215, entitled the "Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act. The bill had strong bi-partisan support, collecting over two-thirds of the vote in both chambers. The act is now "Referred Law 6" on the state's November ballot; South Dakota citizens have the chance to throw the act out or affirm it. The popular vote on the anti-abortion act is unique and attracting national attention. How the act came to be included on the state ballot merits investigation and offers valuable lessons for other states.

Commentary

Justin Levitt

Arizona: Voter Registration and the Road Ahead

Justin Levitt

 

June arrived with two election law cases at the Supreme Court. One is still pending: a highly anticipated decision on section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The other, more frequently overlooked, was decided yesterday. And there are some quirks of the opinion that seem to depart from the swiftly congealing conventional wisdom that the states might actually have "won," and now need only run out the clock.

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In the News

Michelle Alexander

Johnson: Disenfranchising felons hits minorities hardest

Professor Michelle Alexander was quoted in an Athens Banner-Herald article from her book "The New Jim Crow." The article focuses on the disenfranchisement of felons in states like Virginia, where more than seven percent of the adult population cannot vote due to felony charges. In Virginia, Gov. Robert McDonnell is taking steps to restore the right to vote to nonviolent felons.

Alexander's book calls on the idea that disenfranchising felons affects minorities most. She calls voting-rights restoration processes a “bureaucratic maze” that is “cumbersome, confusing and onerous.”

more EL@M in the news...

Info & Analysis

Supreme Court: NVRA Pre-empts Arizona's Proof of Citizenship Law

In a 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that the NVRA preempts an Arizona law requiring documentation of citizenship to accompany voter registration forms. The case is Arizona v. The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.

more info & analysis...