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Election Law @ Moritz

Election Law @ Moritz


Litigation

State ex. rel. Colvin v. Brunner

Case Information

Date Filed / Ended: September 12, 2008 / September 29, 2008
State: Ohio
Issues: Absentee Ballots, Voter Registration
Courts that Heard this Case: Ohio Supreme Court (Case 2008-1813)

Issue:

Whether Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's directive (2008-63), which gives voters a five-day window (30-35 days before the election) within which they may simultaneously register and receive an absentee ballot, impermissibly conflicts with state statutory election laws. 

DISCLOSURE

Status:

A petition for writ of mandamus was filed with the Ohio Supreme Court on 9/12/08.  Answer filed on 9/22/08.  Plaintiff's brief filed 9/22/08.  The petition for writ of mandamus was denied on 9/29/08.

 

Analysis: Ohio 5-Day Window Suit

Ohio Supreme Court Documents

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Commentary

Daniel P. Tokaji

A Poster Child for Dysfunctional Districting

Daniel P. Tokaji

 

Fifty years ago next month, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Baker v. Carr (1962), inaugurating the “reapportionment revolution” which led to the redrawing of legislative districts across the country. This milestone provides the opportunity to reflect not only on what has been accomplished, but also on what still needs to be done.

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In the News

Daniel P. Tokaji

This week: Bama voting rights case in DC courtroom on Thursday

Professor Daniel Tokaji, a senior fellow at Election Law @ Moritz, was quoted by The Birmingham News in an article about a local county's crusade to end 47 years of federal government oversight of its election returns.

Shelby County is hoping a federal appeals court will agree that the county no longer needs the U.S. Justice Department to approve changes in the ways elections are conducted because the area has progressed from its discriminatory past. It is unclear whether the case would be the vehicle with which justices of the U.S. Supreme Court would review the constitutionality of Section 5.

"I am reasonably confident they're going to take up the question of Section 5 constitutionality within the next few years," Tokaji said. "It could be Shelby County, it could be South Carolina, or some other."

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Info & Analysis

Edward B. Foley

Federal Court Finds Equal Protection Violation

In the Hunter case, involving provisional ballots in a local Ohio election from 2010, the federal district court has ordered that ballots must be counted if they are otherwise eligible if they were miscast because of poll worker error. 

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