Election-Campaign Law

Alabama: Charges against Worley reinstated

Posted on November 14, 2009
The Huntsville Times reports: A state appeals court Friday reinstated five felony charges against former Secretary of State Nancy Worley, who is accused of using her office to influence the votes of five employees in her office. Montgomery County Circuit...

19th Judicial Circuit: residency restrictions

Posted on November 10, 2009
The Montgomery Advertiser reports: A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a law that imposes residency requirements on candidates running for circuit judge in the 19th Judicial Circuit could be headed to the Alabama Supreme Court. But first, Montgomery Circuit Court...

Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act signed

Posted on October 29, 2009
President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 yesterday (28 October 2009). One part of the act is the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, reproduced below. Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act...

Birmingham: How many mayors can Birmingham have in one year?

Posted on October 21, 2009
WBHM reports: Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford's trial is underway. As Langford's fate hangs in the balance at the Tuscaloosa federal courthouse, many in Birmingham wonder what will happen to his job as mayor if he's convicted. WBHM's Bradley George takes...

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Birmingham: John Rogers backs off

Posted on October 14, 2009
The Birmingham News reports: State Rep. John Rogers backed away Tuesday from his allegations of voter fraud in last week's City Council runoff, saying he might have been confused about the number of disqualified ballots cast. The Oct. 6 runoff...

State Board of Education: losing candidate files final report 9 months late

Posted on October 13, 2009
The Talladega Daily Home reports: [Sylacauga] City School Board member Skip Smithwick filed his final report on campaign contributions Oct. 6, after questions arose from a member of the state Board of Education. Smithwick, a member of the City Schools...

Birmingham: John Rogers threatens challenge to council runoff over provisional ballots

Posted on October 13, 2009
The Birmingham News reports: Alabama State Rep. John Rogers said he will challenge last week's Birmingham City Council runoff elections. Rogers said he was told there were 1,400 provisional ballots cast in the runoff and only about 150 were counted.....

Alabama: candidate files suit over 14-month delay in runoff

Posted on October 10, 2009
The Gadsden Times reports: Evan Smith, a candidate in Cedar Bluff?s District One run-off election, filed a lawsuit in Cherokee County Circuit Court late afternoon Friday asking the court to issue an order to require the Cedar Bluff mayor and...

"Reforming the Democratic Presidential Nomination"

Posted on October 10, 2009
Tom Schaller writes on FiveThirtyEight.com: I attended a panel today at Brookings featuring Elaine Kamarck and her new book, Primary Politics. Kamarck is both expert on, and key figure in, the transformation of the Democratic presidential nomination process during the...

Marshall Turner: RIP

Posted on October 09, 2009
Tim Storey writes at The Thicket: It is with deep sorrow that I report the passing of one of NCSL's great friends. Marshall Turner died yesterday in a Maryland hospital only a few short years after retiring from the U.S....

Alabama: email on county server may have violated state law

Posted on September 30, 2009
The Birmingham News reports: Jefferson County officials are asking that an e-mail from an employee running for a seat on the County Commission be investigated to see if state laws prohibiting the use of county property for political activity were...

Alabama: Calera will use limited voting; DOJ approves new election date

Posted on September 26, 2009
The Birmingham News reports: Calera officials received permission Friday from the U.S. Department of Justice to proceed with Nov. 10 municipal elections. The decision came 13 months after city leaders learned that the Justice Department would not accept the voting...

Alabama: rare appeal from denial of voter registration

Posted on September 26, 2009
The Prattville Progress reports: An 18-year-old local woman whose voter registration application was reject­ed by county registrars because she inad­vertently listed her former address on the document, has appealed the decision to the Autauga County Judge of Probate...

Alabama: lawsuit over 2008 Cedar Bluff election

Posted on September 24, 2009
The Gadsden Times reports: A new lawsuit relating to the 2008 Cedar Bluff municipal elections was filed Wednesday in the Circuit Court of Cherokee County. The suit, filed by Evan Smith, is a complaint for declaratory, injunctive and other relief...

Alabama: 2 plead guilty to absentee voter fraud

Posted on September 15, 2009
The Tuscaloosa News reports: Valada Paige Banks on Monday became the second woman charged with felony voter fraud in Hale County to plead guilty to a misdemeanor. Banks, 46, received a 12-month suspended sentence after admitting to third-degree criminal possession...

Call for Papers: Voting 45 Years After the Voting Rights Act

Posted on September 10, 2009
The Saint Louis University Public Law Review invites the submission of article abstracts relating to its Spring 2010 symposium theme: Voting 45 Years After the Voting Rights Act. The symposium, which will be held on Friday, March 26, 2010, will...

Alabama: Calera thinks it can hold an election

Posted on September 09, 2009
The Birmingham News reports: The Calera City Council passed a resolution Tuesday night calling for a new municipal election on Nov. 10. The move is contingent on approval from U.S. Justice Department officials, who declared the results of the 2008...

Alabama: "Large chunks of Birmingham city council campaign cash untraceable"

Posted on September 06, 2009
The Birmingham News reports: Large chunks of campaign cash contributed to Birmingham City Council candidates are untraceable because the contributing political action committees haven't filed either campaign disclosure forms or organizational papers, an apparent violation of Alabama's Fair Campaign Practices...

Alabama: book on "Bloody Lowndes"

Posted on September 06, 2009
The Montgomery Advertiser reports: Much of what happened during the historic Selma-to-Montgomery march occurred along a 22-mile stretch of U.S. 80 in one of Alabama's most sparsely populated counties. Historians tend to focus instead on much larger Dallas and Montgomery...

Alabama: Cable company will broadcast candidate forums

Posted on September 03, 2009
The Birmingham News reports: Bright House Cable Networks will broadcast a series of public forums featuring candidates in the Oct. 6 City Council runoff. The cable operator is responding to a call for fairness from several council challengers who say...

Alabama: Evergreen to appeal portion of election contest ruling

Posted on September 02, 2009
The Mobile Press-Register reports: City attorney Terry Davis recommended the city appeal part of a judge's decision in the ongoing challenge of last October's mayoral vote, a move one councilman called "bull crap." Davis said an order issued a week...

Alabama: Winning candidate calls on AG to investigate loser

Posted on September 01, 2009
The Dothan Eagle reports: Betty Peters believes that if you're going to get something done, you've got to take it to the top. The district 2 state school board member did just that last night, calling on Alabama Attorney General...

Alabama: Birmingham candidates think outside the box to get inside the tube

Posted on August 31, 2009
The Birmingham News reports: With six weeks before the Birmingham City Council runoff, two of the four candidates seeking to unseat incumbents say televised council meetings are tantamount to free campaign advertising, giving their opponents an unfair advantage...

Barney Frank, "Bull Durham," and the First Amendment

Posted on August 30, 2009
Jonathan Allen at CQ Politics ties together three of my favorites: Remember when Rep. Barney Frank asked a town hall meeting participant what planet she most frequented before telling her he felt like he was arguing with a dining room...

Alabama: elected, but not sworn in

Posted on August 29, 2009
The Mobile Press-Register reports: Four days after a special judge ruled that Mayor Larry Fluker had lost his runoff last October, Fluker remained in office Friday conducting duties as usual, while the declared winner couldn't find a local judge to...

Alabama: Evergreen election contest over; Wolff defeats Fluker

Posted on August 26, 2009
The Mobile Press-Register reports: A judge Monday overturned last year's Evergreen mayoral election results and declared challenger Pete Wolff III winner over incumbent Larry Fluker. "Mr. Wolff is the winner, and is mayor as we speak," said James Anderson, the...

RIP: Sen. Edward Kennedy; "the dream lives on"

Posted on August 26, 2009
The New York Times reports: Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, a son of one of the most storied families in American politics, a man who knew triumph and tragedy in near-equal measure and who will be remembered as one...

UK: will "American style" primaries catch on in Britain?

Posted on August 13, 2009
The Herald reports: The prospect of the next Labour or Conservative leader being chosen by ordinary voters across the entire UK has been raised by a former government minister. Following the selection last week of the Tories' candidate for Totnes...

Campaigning while on active duty

Posted on July 30, 2009
The Capitol Fax Blog reports the Rep. Mark Kirk has tweeted at least twice about his then-current active duty in the Navy at the National Military Command Center. Capitol Fax has updated the blog post to include the correct DOD...

How to hold an election if the county won't deliver the voting machines

Posted on July 28, 2009
Jefferson County, Alabama, is in a financial crisis. Because a court has voided the county's occupational tax (a tax on wages), the county will not have the money to pay its workers on 21 August. But the City of Birmingham...

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