OSU Navigation Bar

Election Law @ Moritz Home Page

Election Law @ Moritz

Election Law @ Moritz


Information & Analysis

Share

June, 2008

Below are postings from June, 2008. (See Archives | Recent Headlines)

Analysis of Summit BOE Case

June 18 - Yesterday, the Ohio Supreme Court held that Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner exceeded her authority by refusing to appoint to a local board of elections two candidates nominated by the Republican Party (case page). Click here for analysis.

Ohio Supreme Court Constrains Brunner

June 17 - Yesterday, the Ohio Supreme Court held that Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner exceeded her authority by refusing to appoint to a local board of elections two candidates nominated by the Republican party (opinion) (case page). Brunner had appointed another Republican to the bipartisan board instead.

Brunner Issues Report on Ohio Primary

June 12 - Ohio Secretary of State Brunner has issued her report concerning the March primary election. Although the primary was generally considered to be successful, the report discusses the various problems that arose and makes recommendations looking ahead to the general election in November.

Libertarians Sue to Get on OH Presidential Ballot

June 10 - The Libertarian Party has sued to get its Presidential candidate and other candidates on Ohio ballots (case page). Check back for more info.

New Georgia ID Case

June 3 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Democrats have filed another suit challenging Georgia's voter ID law. See the EL@M case page for more information and case documents.

Court Upholds VRA Preclearance

June 3 - A D.C. federal court has upheld the constitutionality of the VRA's preclearance provisions (see opinion and case page). An appeal is possible.

Commentary

Donald B. Tobin

FAQ on social welfare organizations

Donald B. Tobin

The Frank E. and Virginia H. Bazler Designated Professor in Business Law and a senior fellow at Election Law @ Moritz explains the nuances of social welfare organizations and federal regulations related to them.

more commentary...

In the News

Donald B. Tobin

How Did The IRS Get The Job Of Vetting Political Activity?

Professor Donald Tobin was interviewed by the Boston NPR station on its show Here & Now about the Internal Revenue Service's investigation into groups classified as social welfare organizations (marked by the 501(c)(4) tax classification). The IRS was in search of groups that are not focusing primarly on the social welfare of the country, but have a strong political advocacy facet. Political advocacy groups might want to be classified as 501(c)(4) organizations because under that classification they do not have to disclose their donors.

"The key is if you going to be engaged in candidate-type advocacy, and if you're going to intervene in elections and engage in election advocacy, we want disclosure of who your donors are," Tobin said.

“What groups are trying to do here is avoid having to disclose,” Tobin continued. “By earning the classification of social welfare, they’re avoiding the campaign disclosure that’s required for political organizations. So that’s really the underpinning of why we have this mess of the IRS having to get in and investigate and figure out whether an organization is political or not.”

more EL@M in the news...

Info & Analysis

Ohio House Committee Recommends Upholding Landis' Election Victory

Yesterday, an Ohio House of Representatives committee recommended 5-4 that the Ohio House uphold the election victory of Republican State Representative Al Landis over Democratic challenger Josh O'Farrell. In February, the Ohio Supreme Court sent the O'Farrell v. Landis record to the House for consideration. According to an article in the Canton Repository, committee chairman and State Representative Matt Huffman said he expects a vote by the full House later this month.

more info & analysis...