Commentary...
Commentary
Judicial Review of Electoral Mechanics After Crawford
May 6 (Chris Elmendorf)Last December, I published an article that advanced two descriptive claims about nature of the Supreme Court’s Storer-Burdick (or “electoral mechanics”) jurisprudence. The first claim, which I thought perhaps so obviously true as to be uninteresting, was that in spite of the Court’s nominal rejection of “litmus paper tests” in favor of open-ended balancing in this area, the Court’s decisions actually manifest a strong preference for simple, formal threshold tests by which challenged requirements may be sorted into the twin categories of presumptively permissible and presumptively impermissible (and subjected to lax review or strict scrutiny accordingly). My second claim, which I thought more provocative, was that Burdick misleads where it indicates that that scrutiny levels are to vary with the severity of the burden on the plaintiff’s rights of political participation.
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Information and Analysis
2006 Ohio Voter Registration Regulations
On June 5, a hearing was scheduled before the Ohio Secretary of State to consider rules relating to HB 3 regulating voter registration (See the Notice of Hearing here). These regulations mirror emergency rules already in place that became effective May 1, 2006, and are set to expire on July 30, 2006 (see Emergency Regulations and Proposed Regulations below). In effect, the outcome of this hearing will decide whether these regulations will remain as merely emergency rules, expiring as originally set, or become rules that would regulate the registration of voters past the original deadline of July 30, 2006.
Emergency Regulations
- Emergency Regulation 111-12-01
(Scope of Rules) - Emergency Regulation 111-12-02 (Definitions)
- Emergency Regulation 111-12-03 (Program for Registering Persons Receiving Compensation to Register Others to Vote)
- Emergency Regulation 111-12-04 (Online Training Program for Non-Exempt Persons Receiving
Compensation to Register Others to Vote) - Emergency Regulation 111-12-05 (Amendments and Changes to an Individual's Registration
Information) - Emergency Regulation 111-12-06 (Registration Renewal)
Proposed Regulations
- Proposed Regulation 111-12-01 (Scope of Rules)
- Proposed Regulation 111-12-02 (Definitions)
- Proposed Regulation 111-12-03 (Program for Registering Persons Receiving Compensation to Register Others to Vote)
- Proposed Regulation 111-12-04 (Online Training Program for Non-Exempt Persons Receiving Compensation to Register Others to Vote)
- Proposed Regulation 111-12-05 (Amendments and Changes to an Individual's Registration Information)
- Proposed Regulation 111-12-06 (Registration Renewal)
Amended Proposed Regulations (Refiled June 14, 2006)
- Refiled Regulation 111-12-01 (Scope of Rules)
- Refiled Regulation 111-12-02 (Definitions)
- Refiled Regulation 111-12-03 (Program for Registering Persons Receiving Compensation to Register Others to Vote)
- Refiled Regulation 111-12-04 (Online Training Program for Non-Exempt Persons Receiving Compensation to Register Others to Vote)
- Refiled Regulation 111-12-05 (Amendments and Changes to an Individual's Registration Information)
- Refiled Regulation 111-12-06 (Registration Renewal)
General Updates
- New voter registration rules in Ohio (6/20/06)
News Articles
- Officials Meet To Combat Fraudulent Voter Registration, NBC4i.com (08/28/06)
- Alabama: state court grants voting rights to all felons, Votelaw (08/23/06)
- Petitions a dead giveaway, Akron Beacon Journal (08/22/06)
- DOJ files motion to halt election in Springfield, Associated Press (08/21/06)
- Missouri voter ID law latest in national test cases, Associated Press (8/20/06)
- Top vote counter becomes prize job, USA Today (08/18/06)
- 500 new voters might not exist, State activists might be charged over questionable registrations, The Columbus Dispatch (08/11/06)
- Voter registrations examined for fakes, The Plain Dealer (08/11/06)
- Summit election chief wants registration-card probe, The Plain Dealer (08/10/06)
- Cuyahoga commissioners back absentee voting, Akron Beacon Journal (08/09/06)
- Voters handle ID requirement, The Columbus Dispatch (8/09/06)
- These voters don't mind showing ID, Akron Beacon Journal (8/09/06)
- New Registration Rules Stir Voter Debate In Ohio, The New York Times (08/06/06)
- Judge Raises Questions About New Voter Registration Law, Associated Press (08/04/06)
- More States Move To Automatically Restore Ex-Felon Voting Rights, Electionline.Org (08/03/06)
- Summit elections board OKs review of ballots, Akron Beacon Journal (7/28/06)
- Ohio Voters To Get Election Notes, The Intelligencer Wheeling News-Register (7/11/06)
- GOP secretary of state candidate backs voter registration rules, Associated Press (7/7/06)
- Suit challenges proposed Blackwell voting rules, Toledo Blade, (7/7/06)
- Not broken but 'fixed' anyway, Toledo Blade, (7/6/06)
- Ohio's voter registration regulations challenged, Plain Dealer (7/6/06)
- Project Vote, Voting Rights Groups, Sue in Ohio Over Registration Restrictions, Press Release (07/6/06)
- Blackwell's changes to voter registration upheld, Columbus Dispatch (6/27/06)
- Panel supports Blackwell on voter registration rules, Toledo Blade (6/27/06)
- Lawmakers refuse in loud debate to kill rules on voter registration, Dayton Daily News (6/27/06)
- Legislative panel approves tough rules on voter signups, Cleveland Plain Dealer (6/27/06)
- Controversial voter registration rules clear key panel, Akron Beacon Journal (6/26/06)
- Blackwell's Web site becomes issue, Columbus Dispatch (6/22/06)
- Secretary of state's office to change online voter form, Dayton Daily News (6/21/06)
- Blackwell site stirs ire over voter signup, Cleveland Plain Dealer (6/21/06)
- Election officials back new Ohio rules, Dayton Daily News (6/17/06)
- Officials see good in new voting rules, Cincinnati Enquirer (6/17/06)
- Election officials: registration rules not likely a problem, Akron Beacon Journal (6/16/06)
- State changes voter registration rules, Ohio News Network (6/16/06)
- Blackwell revises requirements for paid voter registrars, Toledo Blade (6/16/06)
- Critics protest guidelines, despite Blackwell's revisions, Cincinnati Enquirer (6/16/06)
- Blackwell revises voter registration, Canton Repository (6/16/06)
- Blackwell agrees to revise voter registration rules, Dayton Daily News (6/16/06)
- Summary box: voter registration requirements revised, Akron Beacon Journal (6/15/06)
- Blackwell revises voter registration rules, Akron Beacon Journal (6/15/06)
- Voter rule fixes filed, Cleveland Plain Dealer (6/15/06)
- Hip-Hop group wants registration rule revoked, Dayton Daily News (6/15/06)
- Blackwell opponents criticize new rules, Cincinnati Enquirer (6/9/06)
- Buckeye state once again in eye of political storm, Townhall.com (6/9/06)
- Blackwell's election duties challenged, Akron Beacon Journal (6/9/06)
- Democrats want Blackwell to step aside, Cleveland Plain Dealer (6/9/06)
- Strickland urges Blackwell to leave election position, Dayton Daily News (6/9/06)
- Dems want Blackwell to give up key duties, Columbus Dispatch (6/9/06)
- Dems want Blackwell to give up election oversight, Akron Beacon Journal (6/8/06)
- Democratic legislative leaders want Blackwell to quit, Columbus Dispatch (6/8/06)
- Blackwell's dual roles draw fire, Cleveland Plain Dealer (6/8/06)
- Ohio Secretary of State accused of trying to disenfranchise voters, The Raw Story (6/6/06)
- Blackwell gets brunt of registrants' anger, Cleveland Plain Dealer (6/6/06))
- Critics rip rules for paid staffers signing up voters, Toledo Blade (6/6/06)
- New rules criticized by voting groups, Cincinnati Enquirer (6/6/06)
- New election rules draw fire, Columbus Dispatch (6/6/06)
- New voter registration rules bring criticism, Dayton Daily News (6/6/06)
- Voter registration rules confuse, Canton Repository (6/6/06)
- Voter registration groups say new rules confusing, Akron Beacon Journal (6/5/06)
- Brennan Center to fight restrictive voter registration rules enacted by Ohio Secretary of State, Brennan Center for Justice Press Release (6/5/06)
Opinions/Commentaries
- Blackwell's favored voters, Cleveland Plain Dealer (6/22/06)
- Secretary of clarification, Akron Beacon Journal (6/18/06)
- Stand up against voter registration suppression in Ohio!, People for the American Way of Life (6/16/06)
- Blackwell doing what Ohio law allows him to do, Tribune-Chronicle (6/16/06)
- Critics misdirect anger at Blackwell, News-Herald (6/16/06)
- New roadblocks to the ballot box, Mother Jones (6/14/06)
- Ohio voter registration has kinks, Dayton Daily News (6/14/06)
- Jacobson, Kevin DeWine, Blackwell, 'Times' weigh in, Dayton Daily News (6/14/06)
- Online voter registration is the answer (Edward B. Foley, 6/13/06)
- Defending Blackwell, Akron Beacon Journal (6/11/06)
- Election machinations?, Columbus Dispatch (6/11/06)
- Democrats keep leveling charges at Blackwell they can't back up, Columbus Dispatch (6/11/06)
- Blackwell remains hyperactive, Cleveland Plain Dealer (6/8/06)
- Block the vote, Ohio remix, New York Times (6/7/06)
- VR issues in Florida and Ohio, Equal Vote (6/6/06)
Related Links
- Elections Task Force Recommendation: Mail-Only Ballot Election, San Diego Elections Task Force (7/26/06)
- Electronic Voting Will Present Challenges for November, Committee on a Framework For Understanding Electronic Voting, National Research Council, July 2006
- Are Americans Confident Their Ballots Are Counted?, Caltech/Mit Voting Technology Project, July 2006
- How Hard Can It Be: Do Citizens Think It Is Difficult To Register To Vote?, Caltech/Mit Voting Technology Project, July 2006
- Who Should Run Our Elections? Public Opinion About Election Governance In The United States, Caltech/Mit Voting Technology Project, February 2006
- Voter Identification, University of Michigan Law Review (forthcoming December 2006)
- Advancement Project's comments on Proposed Rules 111-12-01 through 111-12-06 (6/5/06)
- Proposed Voter Protection Recount Standards for Ohio (submitted by Advancement Project and
Voter Protection Project of America's Families United)
- Letter from Brennan Center for Justice opposing Proposed Regulations (6/2/06)
- Amended Substitute H.B. 3 (complete text of Bill)
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