Election Law

Judge Orders DNA Tests for City Officials in Ballot Fraud Case Over Alternative Party Primary

A state-court judge has ordered officials in Troy, N.Y., to take DNA tests to help prosecutors determine who may or may not be responsible for alleged absentee ballot fraud in an alternative party primary election a year ago. Court records concerning a search-warrant request claim that individuals affiliated with the…

Sep 14, 2010 5:02 PM CDT

O’Connor Supports Iowa Justices Targeted for Ouster Over Gay-Marriage Ruling

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on Wednesday supported judicial merit selection and three Iowa justices up for retention in November. Speaking at a forum in Des Moines, O’Connor urged Iowa voters to retain the three justices who have been targeted for a ruling last year striking down the…

Sep 9, 2010 2:10 PM CDT

Same-Sex Marriage Opponents Launch Campaign to Oust Iowa Judges

Opponents of same-sex marriage have launched a campaign to unseat the three Iowa Supreme Court justices whose votes helped legalize it who are up for retention in the Nov. 7 election. The campaign is spearheaded by Bob Vander Plaats, a conservative activist who lost the Republican nomination for governor in…

Aug 27, 2010 5:22 PM CDT

Suit Seeks to Block Appointment of Kansas Supreme Court Judge

The supremely successful election-law gadfly, provocateur and mover-and-shaker James Bopp Jr. is at it again, already. The earth is still trembling from the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year, in a case Bopp developed, that the First Amendment protects unlimited corporate spending on independent campaign advertising, in Citizens United v.…

Aug 27, 2010 3:26 PM CDT

Citizens United Aftermath: Target Donation Supports ‘Fiery Conservative’

Target has donated $150,000 to a group supporting a controversial GOP candidate for Minnesota governor, taking advantage of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling finding corporations have a First Amendment right to support political candidates. The ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission had struck down restrictions on corporate spending…

Jul 28, 2010 10:29 AM CDT

Bloggers Are Asked to Stop Disparaging Polling Company’s Research

The operators of two popular blogs have received cease-and-desist letters from lawyers for a polling company whose data they have questioned. The letters were sent to the politcal blog Daily Kos and to FiveThirtyEight, a blog that analyzes polling data, on behalf of Reseach 2000, a widely used polling company,…

Jul 1, 2010 6:34 PM CDT

On the Campaign Trail

Court weighs arguments for anonymity on public petitions

Jun 1, 2010 7:30 AM CDT

Talking Heads Singer Sues Fla. Gov, Seeks $1M for Song Use in Attack Ad

A former lead singer for Talking Heads has sued Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, contending that he used the group’s 1985 “Road to Nowhere” song in an online attack ad against Marco Rubio without permission, reports the County Grind blog of the Broward-Palm Beach New Times. He is represented by attorney…

May 25, 2010 11:18 PM CDT

Would-Be AG Is Knocked Off Ballot, Lacks Legal Experience, Top Conn. Court Finds

A Connecticut lawyer lacks the legal experience to seek election as attorney general even though she has served for years as secretary of state. Today’s ruling by the Connecticut Supreme Court almost certainly ends Susan Bysiewicz’s hard-fought legal ballot to get on the ballot for the attorney general’s race, reports…

May 18, 2010 9:42 PM CDT

Ala. Supreme Court Justice Suing Opponent in Primary

Alabama Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker says in a lawsuit filed this week that one of his opponents in the June 1 Republican primary failed to “file certain required documents on time” and should be disqualified from the race. Eric Johnston, a solo practitioner in Birmingham, Ala., did not file…

May 7, 2010 6:39 PM CDT

Con Census

Court OKs voting for felons, sets up circuit conflicts

May 1, 2010 7:45 AM CDT

Fla. Judge Reprimanded for Internet Link, Gets Lesson in ‘New Media’

The Florida Supreme Court has reprimanded a judge for two mistakes in 2008 campaign materials, including a YouTube link that contained the word “re-elect.” Judge Angela Dempsey “stood impassively” as Florida Chief Justice Peggy Quince read the reprimand today, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. “This case stands as a warning to…

Apr 7, 2010 3:48 PM CDT

Would-Be AG Drops Motion to Seal Depo in Which She Discusses Why She Is Qualified for Office

Seeking to force the state Democratic Party to acknowledge that she is qualified for run for office as Connecticut attorney general, secretary of state Susan Bysiewicz sued and, beginning last week, was in a deposition discussing her legal experience. But the deposition apparently didn’t go well, as evidenced by the…

Apr 6, 2010 7:28 PM CDT

Two Decisions Highlight Campaign Finance Uncertainty, More ‘Freewheeling’ System

Two court decisions on Friday tried to sort out the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s January campaign finance ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The new rulings dealt with the constitutionality of laws that restrict the size of contributions to groups supporting political candidates. The New York…

Mar 29, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

W. Va. Lawmakers Approve Public Funding of Supreme Court Elections

West Virginia is set to become the fourth state to publicly finance elections to the state supreme court. The legislature approved the financing pilot program proposed by Gov. Joe Manchin in a final vote this weekend, according to the Charleston Gazette and a press release by the Justice at Stake…

Mar 16, 2010 1:30 PM CDT