In addition to the materials provided in the video modules section of this resource, we encourage you to use the information found in this readings. The information available will be valuable as you consider any pre or post election issues and circumstances not covered within the video modules section of this resource guide. It is recommended that you check this section often as more resources will be posted as they become available.
Table of Contents with Linking Articles from Symposium (PDF 219kb)
Symposium: How We Vote: Electronic Voting and Other Voting Practices in the United States
The following articles were submitted to the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal in connection with "How We Vote: Electronic Voting and Other Voting Practices in the United States." The conference was hosted jointly by the William & Mary Institute of Bill of Rights Law, the William & Mary Election Law Program, and the National Center for State Courts. Cite as: 17 Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. ___ (2008).
The Untimely Death of Bush v. Gore (PDF 301kb)
Richard L. Hasen
"When the United States Supreme Court decided Bush v. Gore, ending the controversial recount of presidential votes in Florida and handing the contested 2000 election to George W. Bush over Al Gore, some election law scholars told a "lemonade from lemons" story..."
Beyond the Margin of Litigation: Reforming U.S. Election Administration to Avoid Electoral Meltdown
Richard L. Hasen
"In the 2004 presidential election, the United States came much closer to electoral meltdown, violence in the streets, and constitutional crisis than most people realize. Less than a 2% swing among Ohio voters toward Democratic candidate for President John Kerry and away from incumbent Republican President George W. Bush would have placed the Ohio - and national - election for president well within the margin of litigation, and it would have gotten ugly very quickly."
Memorandum to the State Supreme Court Justices (PDF 28kb)
Richard L. Hasen
"As many of you know, the National Center for State Courts, with representatives from the
Conference of Chief Justices and Conference of State Court Administrators, and the William and
Mary Law School have launched an Election Law Program aimed at enhancing the adjudication
of election law disputes by assisting state court judges in their resolution of these types of cases.
The Program's primary goal is the creation of a manual for state court judges that identifies a
broad array of potential election-related issues and provides analysis of those issues with
appropriate citation to relevant statutory and case materials."
The Future of Bush v. Gore? (PDF 493kb)
Edward B. Foley
"At the beginning of the Roberts Court, this Article considers three dimensions of the Rehnquist Court's most famous precedent, examining the precedent's potential for influencing the development of the law along each of these dimensions."
Refining the Bush v. Gore Taxonomy (PDF 80kb)
Edward B. Foley
"In a scholar's career, few accomplishments are as rewarding as when another scholar, especially a longstanding leader in the field, gives one's work the kind of sustained and thoughtful treatment that Dan Lowenstein has devoted to my taxonomy of potential Bush v. Gore claims."
The Analysis and Mitigation of Electoral Errors: Theory, Practice, Policy (PDF 180kb)
Edward B. Foley
"Errors will always plague the counting of votes and, periodically, errors will be big enough to undermine the outcome of a close election. Electoral errors, however, need not be as frequent as they currently are or, when they do occur, as threatening to the legitimacy of an election's result."
Uncertain Insurance: The Ambiguities and Complexities of Provisional Voting (PDF 106kb)
Edward B. Foley
This piece was originally written for inclusion in Voting in America: American Voting Systems in Flux: Debacles, Dangers and Brave New Designs (Morgan E. Felchner, editor) (Praeger Publishers forthcoming Spring 2008).
"Provisional voting is a kind of insurance policy for elections. Its insurance works two ways, protecting against different kinds of risks. First, it protects voters from being disenfranchised when administrative error has caused their names to be missing from the registration lists used by poll workers to verify a voter's eligibility. Second, it protects the integrity of the election itself by requiring a voter whose eligibility is questionable to cast a ballot that is set aside until eligibility is later confirmed, rather than casting a conventional ballot that is immediately commingled with all others to be counted."
Remedying Election Wrongs (PDF 375kb)
Steven F. Huefner
"This Article explores the complex issues that arise in remedying a failed election, and urges states to reªne and clarify their remedial standards and procedures for resolving an election dispute."