Archive for the ‘ELECT Blog Election Law Essays on Current Topics’ Category
ELECT Blog Election Law Essays on Current Topics
Voting — A Civic Responsibility
The right to vote is a precious right granted to all Americans. Unfortunately, some citizens take this fundamental right for granted and don’t exercise their right to vote. Now is the time to vote. Your vote enhances our democracy. We have the opportunity to vote for our elected officials who make policy decisions on our […]
ELECT Blog Election Law Essays on Current Topics
September 22 — National Voter Registration Day
Elections matter. It is our civic duty to vote. Voting in a democracy is what makes America the greatest country in the world. Make sure you are registered to vote. National Voter Registration Day, the fourth Tuesday in September, began being observed in 2012. That year, more than 300,000 Americans registered to vote. By 2018, […]
ELECT Blog Election Law Essays on Current Topics
Partisan Gerrymandering — Who’s Willing to Predict how the Supreme Court will Rule?
By the end of the week, the United States Supreme Court will decide two partisan gerrymandering cases. How the Court rules will have huge ramifications for drawing congressional districts after the 2020 Census. The Supreme Court heard oral argument in Rucho v. Common Cause, a Republican-favored Congressional plan challenge in North Carolina and Lamont v. […]
ELECT Blog Election Law Essays on Current Topics
What’s the latest on the 2020 US Census?
Following the Constitution, the United States counts its citizens every 10 years. This data determines how to divide the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives per state. Also, the census data plays a central role in allocating billions of federal dollars in federal programs. In April, the U.S. Supreme Court held oral argument […]
ELECT Blog Election Law Essays on Current Topics
Town of McBee Election Lawsuit About Counting Provisional Votes or Ordering a New Election
The Supreme Court of South Carolina recently heard oral argument in a case involving the election of Town Council members in the Town of McBee. Odom v. Town of McBee Election Comm’n & Shiloh Green, No. 2019-000147 (S.C. Sup. Ct. 2019). Four candidates ran for two seats on town council. The results were very close […]
ELECT Blog Election Law Essays on Current Topics
Census 2020 Questions
As the United States approaches the next decennial census, a legal firestorm has been ignited due to the Trump Administration’s desire to include a question on citizenship. In mid-January, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled the citizenship question could not be placed on the survey. See New York v. […]
ELECT Blog Election Law Essays on Current Topics
What can you wear to the polls?
The United States Supreme Court held Minnesota’s prohibition of individuals wearing “political badge, political button, or other political insignia” at the polls violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment
ELECT Blog Election Law Essays on Current Topics
Is it okay to give staff time off to vote?
The answer is yes, absolutely! However, employers do not have to give staff time off to vote in South Carolina. There is no federal law requiring employers to allow their workers time to vote, but 30 states have chosen to grant protection to employees who want to vote during work hours. For example, in Georgia, […]
ELECT Blog Election Law Essays on Current Topics
Straight Party Voting
By statute, the South Carolina legislature allows for and requires the option for straight-ticket voting. South Carolina Code §7-13-330 provides the instructions for ballot forms, and South Carolina Code §7-13-1340 (b) requires that voting devices “permit each elector … to vote a straight party or body ticket, in one operation[.]” South Carolina is one of […]
ELECT Blog Election Law Essays on Current Topics
How to Change Your Voter Registration
This is a topic that is very familiar to me—I just did it last week when I moved. It is extremely easy to change your voter registration in South Carolina and there are several ways to do so. First—and what I wish I had known—you can simply change your address with the South Carolina Department […]