Election Law @ Moritz

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Edward B. Foley
Free & Fair is a collection of writings by Edward B. Foley, one of the nation's preeminent experts on election law.

State-by-State Coverage (California)

Recent News & Analysis

Below are the most recent California News & Analysis posts. See All California News & Analysis

11/19/08
CA-4: 29,000 Ballots Remain to be Counted

In California's 4th US Congressional District, where Tom McClintock (R) leads Charlie Brown (D) by 562 votes, 29,000 ballots remain to be counted, about 8,000 of them provisional.  After changes in state law, California no longer has automatic recounts, but any voter (including candidates) may obtain a recount by filing a proper request within 5 days of the election.  Cal.Elec.Code 15620. [Read More]

2/12/08
50,000 L.A. Primary Votes Uncountable
Los Angeles County officials state that 50,000 votes cast by independent voters in the Presidential primary cannot be counted. Independent voters failed to mark the ballots properly because the design was confusing and poll workers did not explain how to properly fill out the ballots. However, officials claim that the lost votes do not affect the allocation of the delegates between the Democratic candidates. [Read More]

2/7/08
Scope of L.A. Ballot Problems Revealed
Apparently more than 94,000 Presidential primary ballots went uncounted in LA County due to a flawed ballot (see prior post). Officials are seeking permission to go back and try to count those ballots, but it now appears that that may be impossible (analysis). [Read More]

2/1/08
California Voter Registrations Rejected
California election officials reportedly rejected thousands of recent voter registration applications. It is unclear whether this occurred because the registrations could not be verified against outside databases, or because officials simply failed to verify them. [Read More]

2/1/08
Court Upholds Expanded California Audits
A state appellate court has upheld a California Secretary of State administrative regulation that requires a hand-count of a random 10% of precincts when the margin of victory in a race is .05% or less. California law requires a 1% hand-count regardless of the margin of victory. [Read More]

Recent Commentary

Below are the most recent California Commentaries. See All California Commentaries

11/5/09
Uncounted Ballots: A Measure of Vulnerability

Guess what? Ohio ranks especially vulnerable.

Recent News Stories

Below are the most recent California News Stories. See All California News Stories

9/28/09
Runner sues Attorney General over ballot wording

State Sen. George Runner is suing California Attorney General Jerry Brown for crafting what Runner calls an “overtly biased” summary of a ballot measure the senator created to prevent voter fraud.

9/22/09
DA Probing ACORN Voter Registrations

9/22/09
Immigrant-rights activist to fight voter fraud charges

A settlement agreement between prosecutors and immigrant-rights activist Nativo Lopez – who faces four felony charges of voter fraud – could not be reached today and the case is expected to go to trial.

9/14/09
Bill to Lower Voter Registration Age Heads to Governor

The California legislature on Thursday approved Assembly Bill 30, a bill lowering the voter registration age to 17. If signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the legislation could dramatically improve California’s low voter-participation rate for young voters.

9/10/09
Yamada bill would test-run all-mail elections

Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada's AB 1228 gives California the opportunity to gather information on all-mail elections by establishing an all-mail pilot project in Yolo and Santa Clara counties.

Current Litigation

There are no active cases on California that Election Law @ Moritz is covering at this time. See All Archived Cases on California