Professor Rick Hasen
Office: ____
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays: 4:20 pm-5 pm
(or by appointment)
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND SYLLABUS
IntroductionThis course considers ways in which the law governing the political process affects and reflects political power relationships. Topics covered will include at least some of the following: campaign finance, the right to vote, Bush v. Gore, reapportionment, political parties, and ballot propositions. No background in politics or political science is required. Students who have taken the Election Law seminar are ineligible to take this course.
Required Course Materials1. Daniel Hays Lowenstein and Richard L. Hasen, Election Law—Cases and Materials (3d ed. 2004) (Lowenstein & Hasen)
2. Richard L. Hasen, The Supreme Court and Election Law: Judging Equality from Baker v. Carr to Bush v. Gore (NYU Press 2003) (Hasen)
3. Handout (available from _____) (Handout)
4. Additional materials I will provide in class during the semester
Course Requirements
Your course grade will be determined primarily based upon your performance on a closed-book, closed note final examination. I also reserve the right to adjust your grade up or down one increment (e.g., changing a B to a B+ or B-) based upon participation. Although I expect you to be prepared to participate in class each day, I will assign you certain weeks to be “on call” and extra-prepared to participate in class discussion. You may switch dates with another student if you notify me in advance. Students who fail to participate in class when “on call” run a serious risk of a downgrade for participationSyllabus, Part I (Subject to Revision)
I. Voting and Representation: The Warren Court’s Equal Protection Legacy
A. The Right to Vote: Age, Residency, Citizenship, Non-felon status
Reading: Lowenstein & Hasen, 72-80, 43-50; Hasen 1-13
B. Other Voter Qualifications
Reading: Hasen, 36 (middle)-39 (top), 25 (middle)-27 (top), 177-88, Handout 1-21 (Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, Holt Civic Club v. City of Tuscaloosa)
C. The Right to An Equally Weighted Vote (and its Narrow Exceptions)
Reading: Hasen, 21-25 (middle); Lowenstein and Hasen, 80 (bottom)-116
II. Bush v. Gore, Equal Protection, and the Counting of Votes
Reading: Lowenstein & Hasen, 116 (bottom)-140; Hasen, 41 (middle) - 46 (middle); Handout 22-33 (Complaint, Schering v. Blackwell: Sixth Circuit opinions and Justice Stevens’ order in Ohio registration cases)
III. Introduction to Legislative Districting
Reading: pp. 141- 152
IV. Minority Vote Dilution
A. Section 5 of the Voting Rights ActReading: Lowenstein & Hasen, 153-187; Hasen, 120-33
B. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act
Reading: Lowenstein & Hasen, 187 (bottom) – 244; Handout 34-40 (Metts v. Murphy)
V. Unconstitutional Racial Gerrymandering
Reading: Lowenstein & Hasen, 245-316
VI. Partisan Gerrymandering
Reading: Lowenstein & Hasen, 317-360; Handout 41-51 (Pildes, Foreword: The Constitutionalization of Democratic Politics); Hasen, 138-56
VII. Ballot Propositions
Reading:
Lowenstein & Hasen, 361-83 (middle), 392 (begin with n.4)-438
VIII. Major Political Parties
Reading: Lowenstein & Hasen, 439-43 (top), 457-69, 479-505
IX. Third Parties and Independent Candidates
Reading: Lowenstein & Hasen, 533-79; Handout 52-58 (Nader v. Keith)
X. Campaign Finance Laws and Reform
A. Contribution and Expenditure Limits: The Buckley Framework
Reading: Lowenstein & Hasen, 717-719, 725 (from n.2)-727 (top), 761-96
B. After Buckley: Who May Be Regulated, and For What Reasons?
Reading: Lowenstein & Hasen, 797-859
C. The New Deference: Parties, Soft Money, Issue Advocacy and McConnell v. FEC
Reading: Lowenstein & Hasen, 861-956; Hasen, 108-20
D. Public Financing Questions
Reading: Lowenstein & Hasen, 957-88
E. Campaign Finance Disclosure
Reading: Lowenstein & Hasen, 989-1024
XI. The Future of Election Law
Hasen, 47-72, 157-65; Handout 59-64 (Gerken, Lost in the Political Thicket)
Format Guidance/Requirements:
This should be a policy memorandum for an audience of state legislators, election officials and other stakeholders, not a litigation or scholarly document. Consequently, while you should provide reasoned legal analysis the memo should not read like a litigation brief or a law review article;
The memorandum should draw examples from and cite existing election law and practice at the federal, state, or local level. Such citations will serve the dual purpose of informing your audience of information relevant to your suggested standard and indicating to me that you did some research. Bluebook citation is not important – what is important is that the reader can find the citation and the source will be at the point of the citation;
Please draft actual language for your standard. It need not be in legislative language, but it should be sufficiently clear that a legislative drafter could use it as the basis for legislation – or a judge could cite it as evidence of a prevailing national standard;
The memorandum should be 10-12 pages (2500-3000 words) exclusive of footnotes – though given that this is a policy memorandum, footnotes shouldn’t be numerous or central to your text.
I’d like everyone to try to choose a topic for their memorandum by our 6thclass (_____) – this doesn’t mean I have to approve the topic; just that I’d like to have an idea of who’s doing what. Note that I can assist with choosing a topic if necessary.
SYLLABU
Week 1
Election Administration 101
ASSIGNMENT:
pp. 1-25 of electionline.org's "Election Preview 2004” http://electionline.org/site/docs/pdf/2004.Election.Preview.Final.Report.Update1.pdf, plus the state entries for Florida (pp.31-32), Ohio (p. 48) and at least one other state of your choice - preferably including any state(s) in which you are or have been registered to vote;
electionline.org's "The 2004 Election" http://electionline.org/site/docs/pdf/ERIP%20Brief9%20Final.pdfQUESTIONS:
What is/are the purpose(s) of elections in the American system of government?
What should be the goal(s) of election administration?
How can and should the law operate to further these goals?
Week 2Tension #1: central vs. local authority: the law
ASSIGNMENT:U.S. Const. Art. I, Sec. 4 – commentary
U.S. Department of Justice, “Voting Section: The Statutes we Enforce”, http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/overview.htmShambon, “The Administration of American Elections” pp. 1-26
Carter-Ford Commission report, chapter 2 (millercenter.virginia.edu/programs/natl_commissions/commission_final_report/2_chap_2_pp22-25.pdf )and chapter 7 (millercenter.virginia.edu/programs/natl_commissions/commission_final_report/4_chap_7_p68-73.pdf )
electionline.org, “Working Together”, http://electionline.org/site/docs/pdf/working.together.pdf
QUESTIONS:
Why do you think the American electoral system remains so decentralized? What are the advantages and disadvantages of such a system?
What is the proper role of the federal government in election administration? State governments? Local governments?
Would uniformity be more desirable, and what might the advantages and disadvantages be of a uniform system?
What issues might arise in an effort to alter the roles of federal, state and local governments in the electoral system?
Week 3
Tension #1: central vs. local authority: issues and practice
ASSIGNMENT:electionline.org, “Roads to Reform”: http://electionline.org/site/docs/pdf/ERIPbrief903.finalrevised.pdf
Shambon, “The Administration of American Elections,” pp. 26-end
Rick Hasen, The California Recall Punch Card Litigation: Why Bush v. Gore Does Not "Suck" (http://ssrn.com/abstract=589001 )
Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. “The Right to Vote” http://www.house.gov/jackson/VotingAmendment.htm
SKIM to compare –Arizona 2003 HAVA State Plan, www.azsos.gov/hava/2003/state_plan/HAVA_Arizona_State_Plan.pdf
California 2003 HAVA State Plan http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/HAVA_finalplan_12-03.pdf
New York 2003 HAVA State Plan, http://www.elections.state.ny.us/hava/draft_plan.pdf
QUESTIONS:
Has HAVA – and more specifically, the effort to add a federal dimension to election administration – been a success? Why or why not?
How much of states’ difficulties with HAVA are a result of the law itself, and how much stem from the delays in its implementation in Washington DC?
Are there alternate means of incorporating a national outlook for elections? What difficulties might arise from attempting to implement them?
Week 4
Tension #2: access vs. integrity: the law
ASSIGNMENT: Section 302 (pp. 42-44) of the Help America Vote Acthttp://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ252.107.pdf
Senate debate on Help America Vote Act, 148 Cong. Rec. S10412
electionline.org, “Voter ID” (http://electionline.org/site/docs/pdf/voter_id_report.pdf)
QUESTIONS:
How are the principles of access and integrity reflected in the voting process? Which is more important?How did HAVA strike the balance between access and integrity?
What guidance were states given with respect to this balance?
Week 5Tension #2: access vs. integrity: issues and practice
ASSIGNMENT:Tova Wang, “Playing Games with Democracy”, http://www.tcf.org/publications/electionreform/voting_game.pdf
Bay County v. Land, et al. http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/docs/michigan/decision.pdfFlorida Democratic Party v. Hood: http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/docs/florida/hood-order.pdf
Sandusky County Democratic Party v. Blackwell: http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/docs/sandusky/opinion2.pdf
QUESTIONS:
Were states’ choices regarding voter identification and provisional voting because, or in spite of, Congressional action under HAVA?
What impact, if any, might courts’ willingness to hear HAVA challenges under section 1983 have on the implementation of the Act? Is this a good thing?
Why is the access/integrity issue usually the basis of charges of partisanship in election administration?
Week 6Tension #3: fairness vs. administrative certainty: the law
ASSIGNMENT:Electoral College in practice http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/certificates.html
State post-election certification requirements http://www.electionline.org/site/docs/html/post_election_certification_timetable.htm
Recounts
http://www.electionline.org/site/docs/html/recount_provisions_-_part_1.htm http://www.electionline.org/site/docs/html/recount_provisions_-_part_2.htm
Recount/contest timetable
http://www.electionline.org/site/docs/html/post-election_recount_-_contest_timetable.htm
QUESTIONS:
When is an election over? Concession? Certification? Lapse of all contest/recount deadlines?
Should the goal be to count every vote, or is there a? If so, where does this rank with other priorities?
Immediately prior to the 2004 election, Loyola professor Rick Hasen said the following with respect to pre-election challenges: “sometimes it is more important for the law to be certain than to be right” … do you agree?
Week 7
Tension #3: fairness vs. administrative certainty: issues and practice
ASSIGNMENT:
Peter Shane, Meshing State and Federal Election Law http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/analysis/041130a.htm
Arkansas Voter Intent Rules (http://www.sos.arkansas.gov/elections/elections_pdfs/register/april_2002/108.00.02-003.pdf)
GOP contest petition in Washington Governor's race (http://www.secstate.wa.gov/office/news_docs/Recount/Republican/Petition.pdf)
Motion for Sanctions in Ohio contest (http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/docs/ohio/MossvBush/AGSanctionsMotion.pdf - just pages 1-11 though accompanying documents may be interesting)
Green Party's perspective on New Mexico recount (http://www.votecobb.org/recount/new_mexico/)
Michael Kinsley, "In with the New Voting", Washington Post January 2, 2005 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40054-2004Dec31.html)
QUESTIONS:
How do all the issues we’ve identified in the last seven weeks illuminate your understanding of the post-election controversies in Washington state, Ohio, and elsewhere?
Many observers (including me) have observed that one benefit of the 2000 election controversy is greater public awareness of the electoral process. Have we reached the point where we may be too aware of the process? If so, how might citizens regain confidence in the process without returning to their previous state of ignorance? If not, what are the potential benefits of the increased transparency of the process for the election system?