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Sources for Election and Voting Law, Generally
Introduction
Election and voting law in the United States includes federal laws (cases, statutes, and regulations) as well as state laws (cases, statutes, and regulations), all operating under limits and powers defined in the U.S. Constitution. This guide presents researchers with resources for those cases, statutes, and regulations, as well as pending legislation and secondary sources.
This introductory section outlines general resources in federal law to introduce researchers to the framework and major issues in election and voting law. The topical pages on Campaign Finance, Voting Processes, Voting Rights, and Virginia Resources provide more detail on specific resources on specific selected topics.
United States Constitution
The United States Constitution serves as the framework under which other election and voting laws operate.
The U.S. Electoral College maintains a website on, "Presidential Election Laws" which includes provisions of the Constitution structuring the Electoral College's role in the election process.
United States Code
The United States Code is a consolidation and codification of the general and permanent laws of the United States, organized by subject matter. The Code is prepared by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the United States House of Representatives (OLRC). OLRC publishes an online version of the United States Code, here: http://uscode.house.gov/.
In September of 2014, OLRC reorganized the provisions related to voting and elections, creating Title 52, Voting and Elections. For more information about this change, see the OLRC website, "Editorial Reclassification: Title 52, United States Code.".
Cases
Cases play an important role in elections and voting law at the state and federal level. You can located caselaw related to election and voting law the same places you locate other caselaw, including Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law. See selected topic pages for additional specialized caselaw resources.
Legislation
Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. Congress.gov coverage of bills begins in 1973, with full bill text beginning in 1993. Congress.gov categorizes legislation into policy areas and legislative subjects. For example, a search of the legislative subject "Elections, voting, political campaign regulation" will return a list of bills that can then be filtered by additional criteria. To filter by facets, such as Congress and Status of Legislation, use the tool along the left-hand side of the results' list.
Regulations
Regulations, along with notices, proposed rules, and presidential documents, are published daily in the Federal Register. General and permanent rules are published annually in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is organized into titles according to subject area. The Government Publishing Office maintains the "Electronic Code of Federal Regulations," or e-CFR, an electronic version of the Code of Federal Regulations. The e-CFR is updated frequently; the currency of the information is stated clearly on the homepage. Title 11 contains regulations about federal elections.
Federal Agencies
- Federal Election CommissionThe Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency tasked with administering and enforcing the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA_ The FEC's duties include disclosing public finance information, enforcing provisions of the FECA, and overseeing public funding of presidential elections (source: https://www.fec.gov/about/).
- Voting Section, U.S. Department of JusticeThe Voting Section within the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice enforces civil provisions of the federal laws that protect the right to vote.
- U.S. Election Assistance CommissionThe U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is an independent, bipartisan commission established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002. The EAC administers grant programs, provides for testing and certification of voting systems, and studies election issues. The EAC also assists election officials by issuing guidelines for voting systems and advice on implementing the Act's requirements.
Secondary Sources
We have access to a wide variety of resources on election and voting law through secondary sources in Lexis and Westlaw, the Law Journal Library on HeinOnline, and in print in the Law Library (see selected items, below). Boatright Library has extensive resources on political and historical aspects of voting and elections.
Election Law in a Nutshell by Call Number: eBook and KF4886 .T65 2017ISBN: 9780314268471Publication Date: 2017Election law is a dynamic and quickly growing field that has garnered enormous public interest. It is a subject of great practical importance to lawyers and law students, with increasing litigation and several important decisions from the Supreme Court in recent years. Tokaji's Election Law in a Nutshell provides a succinct and thorough description of the law governing voting rights, elections, and the political process in the United States. The topics addressed include the fundamental right to vote, gerrymandering, minority voting rights, ballot access, voter identification, recounts, direct democracy, and campaign finance. The Nutshell covers the constitutional law in these areas, including rights of free speech and equal protection, as well as the Voting Rights Act and other essential statutes. It addresses Shelby County v. Holder and other cases from the 2012-13 Supreme Court Term.
America Votes! by Call Number: KF4886 .A82 2020ISBN: 9781634254229The third edition of America Votes! is a timely resource for Sawyers, professors, election officials, and administrators, providing a snapshot of key election and voting rights issues from practitioners highly experienced in a wide variety of areas. Part 1 details the election administration processes, challenges, and opportunities at the local and national level. Included are chapters on the FEC, enforcing federal election law, using census data to prove citizenship, and administrative challenges for recounts, contests; and postelection audits. Part 2 details the Voting Rights Act and discusses rights of language-minority voters, voter suppression tactics including voter ID laws, immigration voting rights, and redistricting issues to watch during the current redistricting cycle. Part 3 details the challenges of redistricting and includes state legislative reapportionment, Section 2 vote-dilution litigation, and corporate districting and the Voting Rights Act. Book jacket.
Compromised Compliance : implementation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act by Call Number: KF4893 .B35 1982ISBN: 0313220379“The reality of voting rights policy (or, indeed, any policy) rests in its actual enforcement. The enforcement of voting rights policy (a compliance policy that reflects the realities of policymaking and policy implementation in a federal system) is more important than the existence of printed rights--this is the thesis of this exceptionally perceptive study....An important, sophisticated, quality book. Good bibliography, footnotes, appendixes, and stylistic qualities. Adequate index. Academic and general collections.”– Choice
