Election Law @ Moritz

Faculty Experts

Election Law @ Moritz Fellows

Mary Beth BeazleyMary Beth Beazley
Associate Professor of Law; Director of Legal Writing
Moritz College of Law
[Prof. Beazley's Profile]


Mary Beth Beazley's work in election law addresses issues of ballot design. As a nationally recognized expert on the communicative effect of both word choice and the layout of text, Professor Beazley puts this expertise to use in addressing the potential impact on election outcomes of different ballot contents and layouts.

Ruth ColkerRuth Colker
Heck Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law
Moritz College of Law
[Prof. Colker's Profile]


One of the nation's foremost scholars in the field of disability law, Ruth Colker's work includes issues of access to voting by the disabled. Such access issues encompass the design and operation of voting machines as well as access to polling places under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Professor Colker is the author of the leading casebook on disability law, the forthcoming edition of which will include a special section on election-related issues. She is also an expert on gay rights, same-sex marriage initiatives and women's rights.

Dale A. OesterleDale A. Oesterle
J. Gilbert Reese Chair in Contract Law
Moritz College of Law
[Prof. Oesterle's Profile]


Dale A. Oesterle has considerable experience with the rules governing referenda, initiatives, and other forms of direct democracy. His book on the Colorado Constitution contains a chapter devoted to this topic, and he has served as consultant in litigation concerning the constitutional law applicable to such ballot measures. Professor Oesterle's current interests relating to election law include the special problems that arise in the context of judicial elections, in particular the efforts to regulate the campaign communications of judicial candidates and well as the role of attorneys and litigants in financing judicial campaigns.

john a. powelljohn a. powell
Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties; Executive Director, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
Moritz College of Law
[Prof. powell's Profile]


john a. powell's nationally recognized expertise in the field of civil rights includes an interest in voting rights. His extensive studies on the role that race plays in our nation's law and politics encompasses a specific inquiry into the relevance of race on the operation of electoral processes and the ability of these processes to reflect accurately and fairly the interests of minority groups in our society.

Peter M. ShanePeter M. Shane
Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law
Moritz College of Law
[Prof. Shane's Profile]


Peter M. Shane's scholarship addresses a variety of topics within the field of election law. As one the nation's foremost authorities on the law of the presidency, whose work includes the leading coursebook on this topic, Professor Shane is an expert on the Electoral College and the particular rules applicable to presidential elections. His relevant publications include Disappearing Democracy: How Bush v. Gore Undermined the Right to Vote for Presidential Electors, 29 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 535-585 (2001). In addition, Professor Shane is a leading figure in the newly emerging field of cyberdemocracy, which studies the use of the Internet and other information technologies to facilitate citizen participation in politics and government. His recent work in this field includes research funded by the National Science Foundation on the development of software to structure community-based discussions on complex policy issues. He has edited Democracy Online: The Prospects of Political Renewal Through the Internet, for which his own contribution is "The Electronic Federalist: The Internet and the Electronic Institutionalization of Democratic Legitimacy." Professor Shane has also published widely on the topics of voting rights, redistricting, and reapportionment. His work in this area includes, most recently, Reflections in Three Mirrors: Complexities of Representation in a Constitutional Democracy, 60 Ohio St. L. J. 693-709 (1999).

David StebenneDavid Stebenne
Adjunct Professor of Law and Associate Professor of History
Ohio State University
[Prof. Stebenne's Profile]


A specialist on American political history since 1945, he has written about the history of American presidential campaigns in the twentieth century.

Matt SteinkeMatt Steinke
Reference Librarian
Moritz College of Law
[Mr. Steinke's Profile]


Matt Steinke is a Reference Librarian in the Michael E. Moritz Law Library whose time is partially dedicated to Election Law @ Moritz research tasks. He is responsible for management of EL@M's major pending cases database, collection of election news articles and, in addition, has performed research on post-election recounts and election contests and other election matters.