Archive for the ‘E.L.E.C.T Blog: Election Law Essays on Current Topics’ Category

ELECT Blog Archives

Legislative Changes to Election Laws in 2016

By Rob Tyson Based on the Voting Laws Roundup 2016 by the Brennan Center for Justice, [1] two key trends have emerged in 2016: 1) automatic voter registration has taken off across the country and 2) States are passing fewer voter restrictions, but restrictions in 17 states will be on the books for the first […]

ELECT Blog Archives

Supreme Court Further Defines Notice Under FOIA

By Rob Tyson On April 13, the South Carolina Supreme Court decided Brock v. Town of Mount Pleasant in which it addressed whether, under South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), the town had given proper notice for a “special meeting” it held. Op. No. 27621 (S.C. Sup. Ct. filed April 13, 2016)(Shearouse Adv. Sh. […]

ELECT Blog Archives

Partisan Gerrymandering

By Rob Tyson In Wisconsin, a challenge to the State’s drawing of its legislative districts based on partisan gerrymandering is moving toward a trial beginning May 24.  The Plaintiffs, generally linked together as Democrats, have challenged the legislative districts drawn by “Republican legislators to maximize Republican wins and minimize Democratic influence over the political process…”  […]

ELECT Blog Archives

United States Supreme Court upholds One-Person, One-Vote in Evenwel v. Abbott

By Rob Tyson On April 4, the United States Supreme Court held that Texas’s method of drawing legislative districts by using the total population of the state does not violate the Equal Protection Clause. Under the “one-person, one vote” principle, legislative districts must be drawn with equal population.  This principle was established over fifty years […]

ELECT Blog Archives

Results of the South Carolina Exit Polls

The New York Times surveyed voters exiting the South Carolina Republican and Democratic Primaries.  Lets’s take a look at some of the results below… Sex of Voters Republican 51% Male 49% Female Democratic 39% Male 61% Female Race of Voters Republican 96% White 1% Black 1% Hispanic/Latino 0% Asian 2% Other Democratic 35% White 61% […]

ELECT Blog Archives

A key factor in the South Carolina Democratic Primary

South Carolina has almost 3 million registered voters.  25% of whom voted in the Republican Primary, shattering previous turnout records.  The same is expected to happen this Saturday in the South Carolina Democratic Primary. Let’s take a moment to look at one of the key factors playing into this upcoming vote.  African Americans are expected […]

ELECT Blog Archives

The Numbers Don’t Lie

Trump…he’s not everyone’s “cup of tea” (pun intended), but he did claim a big victory in the South Carolina Republican primary this past Saturday.  And just like that, he now has 67 delegates and is the leader of the Republican Party.  While some may not be too happy, as South Carolinians, we should be pleased […]

ELECT Blog Archives

South Carolina is Huge Beneficiary of South Carolina Presidential Primaries

By Beth Richardson Candidate campaigns, media, and SuperPacs spend big dollars in South Carolina because of its influential “first-in-the-South” primary position–known especially to predict Republican nominee winners and provide a perspective for African-American voter preferences in both parties.  How much will be spent in South Carolina this year?  By all measures, the presidential primaries should […]

ELECT Blog Archives

Social media’s influence on the Presidential Campaign

By Alexis Lindsay On Wednesday, we wrote about what sources voters use for news depending on their age. A majority of Generation X and Millennials get their news from Facebook. Candidates have taken note of the social media trend, and today, we are looking at how the candidates are using social media in the 2016 presidential […]

ELECT Blog Archives

The heat is on as the top three GOP candidates gear up for the South Carolina primary

With only 2 days left until the face-off, who will come out ahead?  Only time will tell…