Election Law

With a big tip of the Hat toProf. Hasen's Election Law Blog the Washington Governor's Race legal battle may be taking a new turn with the possibility of the vote being set aside. See a series of links gathered by Howard Bashman

I don't know if setting aside a vote has ever occured, but this is certainly must be the highest level office to have the idea even considered. Granted, Governor Elect Christine Gregorie's 129 vote margin is so slim that there is no way, given some of the new issues raised, to know with a definitiveness who won.

This much is certain, the Washington Governor's race and the issues raised by Congressman Conyers and other Democrats about issues in Ohio and other states, points to a critical lack of insurance about the integrity of the voting process. If we are to avoid such issues in the future, Congress and the states are going to have to spend a lot of money to increase public confidence and the accuracy of voting processes.

In Washington, it looks as though more ballots were cast than voters who voted in some counties. Reminds me of the dead men voting in Chicago. To be sure, concepts such as provisional ballots are nice, but there does not appear to be adequate controls in place to prevent some types of fraud. What is to prevent a voter from voting in his normal precinct and the going to a neighboring precinct and voting provisionally. How are procedures in place to prevent such matters?

The Help America Vote Act is a good piece of legislation to start with, but it now appears obvious that new work needs to be done.