Faculty experts from Election Law at Ohio State engage in research projects, convene symposia, and collaborate with other scholars to advance the public understanding of election law and administration.
Earlier projects can be found on the Election Law @ Moritz Archives website.
Election Administration
Election Law at Ohio State is recognized as a national leader in the field of election administration.
Our major projects include:
Election Law at Ohio State Deputy Director, Steven F. Huefner, has been appointed Reporter for the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) Election Law Study Committee.
The committee is studying the need for and feasibility of a ULC model act on election law.
The Uniform Law Commission, established in 1892, provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.
The State Election Landscapes: The Great Lakes States project is a collaborative effort to fill the knowledge gap about the conduct of elections in the six Great Lakes States — Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. This project provides:
- narrative material about the legal setting of elections,
- links to important official information about the conduct of elections, and
- a visualization tool that helps display important statistical information about elections
The project was funded through the generosity of the Joyce Foundation and was overseen by the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, with substantive input from scholars at the Ohio State University (Edward B. Foley and Steven F. Huefner), the University of Minnesota (Doug Chapin), and the University of Wisconsin (Barry C. Burden).
Election Administration: Non-Precinct Voting and Resolution of Ballot-Counting Disputes
Edward B. Foley and Steven F. Huefner, as Reporter and Associate Reporter, respectively, authored this volume of the American Law Institute’s Principles of the Law, published in 2019.
ALI notes that “Election administration is essential to the proper functioning of our democracy. This work focuses on two areas of great importance: non-precinct voting and the resolution of disputed elections.”
Election Law at Ohio State Deputy Director, Steven F. Huefner, served as Reporter for the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act (UMOVA).
UMOVA simplifies the process of absentee voting for United States military and overseas civilians by making the process more uniform, convenient, secure and efficient. UMOVA applies to all statewide and local elections, as well as to all federal elections, both primary and general (and also special and run-off elections).
The Uniform Law Commission, established in 1892, provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.
In 2007, the Election Law at Ohio State team published From Registration to Recounts, the widely-acclaimed comprehensive study of the election systems of five key Midwestern states: Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois. The authors set out to study how those five states had responded to the Help America Vote Act of 2002, and to the increased attention that matters of election administration had received in the wake of the 2000 disputed presidential election.
From Registration to Recounts Revisited, published in 2011, is a sequel to From Registration to Recounts. This retrospective study, like the original, makes clear that election reform remains an uncompleted task more than two full presidential election cycles after Bush v. Gore.