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Moritz College of Law Professors Receive $175,000 Grant

Award-winning election law initiative, Election Law @ Moritz, to analyze how states handle post-election disputes

June 20, 2007

Contact: Barbara Peck, (614) 292-0283

The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law’s award-winning election law initiative, Election Law @ Moritz, has received a $175,000 grant to analyze how states handle post-election disputes. The state-by-state analysis will culminate with the project’s principal investigators, Professors Edward B. (Ned) Foley and Steven F. Huefner, making policy recommendations intended to improve how such disputes are resolved.

“This will be the first time anyone has done a comprehensive analysis of post-voting election disputes,” said Foley, director of Election Law @ Moritz. “A lot has been done to improve voting procedures, but there has been little attention given to how challenges are decided following an election.”

The project is a natural extension of Foley and Huefner’s current work, which includes Foley’s article “The Analysis and Mitigation of Electoral Errors,” forthcoming this summer in the Stanford Law and Policy Review, and Huefner’s article “Remedying Election Wrongs,” forthcoming this summer in the Harvard Journal on Legislation.

The project will primarily analyze the standards states currently use in determining when and how to correct an election outcome, the timetable with which such disputes are resolved, and the forum or institution that should resolve the disputes.

Foley, the Robert M. Duncan/Jones Day Designated Professor of Law, and Huefner, an associate professor of law, plan to write a book at the completion of the project and create an interactive state-by-state collection of electronic reports and analyses on the Election Law @ Moritz web site. The two authors also plan to host a conference on the project in 2008. Work on the analysis will begin this summer, according to Huefner, who took the lead in preparing the grant proposal. In addition to the work of Election Law @ Moritz faculty, several student research assistants also will help collect data on how different states currently handle such challenges.

Foley is one of the nation’s preeminent experts on election law. His primary areas of expertise include election administration, campaign finance, the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), and the intersection of election and constitutional law. Professor Foley has repeatedly testified before government committees examining election law issues. He assisted attorneys responsible for defending the constitutionality of the McCain-Feingold Act and the Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Senate Rules Committee, and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission have sought his expert opinion on election law. He is a major contributor to the Election Law @ Moritz web site, especially through his Free and Fair blog.

Huefner, a Senior Fellow with the election law program, has wide-ranging experience in election law. Prior to joining the Moritz College, he spent five years in the Office of the Senate Legal Counsel, where his responsibilities included advising the U.S. Senate in matters of contested Senate elections. His academic interests include term limits in state legislative elections, legislative redistricting, theories of representation, poll worker responsibility and training, and resolving contested elections. As Director of the Moritz College’s Legislation Clinic, Professor Huefner has studied many aspects of Ohio’s electoral processes, including campaign finance law, lobbying regulation, other campaign practices, legislative term limits, and the initiative and referendum processes of direct democracy.

Led by five faculty members with extensive expertise in election law, and with the collaboration of 13 additional faculty with election law interests, Election Law @ Moritz is a unique, multi-faceted project to educate the public by providing reliable information and objective analysis on legal issues surrounding elections and to assist the media in covering election law issues with accuracy. The Election Law @ Moritz web site is a comprehensive resource for academics, reporters, and the general public. The immediacy of the internet format allows Election Law @ Moritz to track breaking litigation and provide timely analysis of cases and issues.

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