Election Law: Contemporary Decisions (Litigator Series)

This casebook contains a selection of 94 Federal Court of Appeals decisions that address issues arising from elections and election campaigns. The selection of decisions spans from 2001 to the date of publication. For each circuit, the cases are listed in the order of frequency of citation. The most cited decisions appear first.

Gonzalez v. Arizona , 677 F. 3d 383 (9th Cir. 2012) gives an overview of the Constitution's Election Clause. The Elections Clause establishes a unique relationship between the state and federal governments. It provides:

The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

U.S. Const. art. I, § 4, cl. 1. In a nutshell, state governments are given the initial responsibility for regulating the mechanics of federal elections, but Congress is given the authority to "make or alter" the states' regulations. The history of the Elections Clause reveals the reasoning behind its unusual delegation of power. Under the Articles of Confederation, the states had full authority to maintain, appoint, or recall congressional delegates. At the Philadelphia Convention, delegates expressed concern that, if left unfettered, states could use this power to frustrate the creation of the national government, see U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton , 514 U.S. 779, 808-09, 115 S.Ct. 1842, 131 L.Ed.2d 881 (1995), most obviously by neglecting to hold federal elections. The Framers decided that Congress should be given the authority to oversee the states' procedures related to national elections as a safeguard against potential state abuse. See id .; see also The Federalist No. 59 , at 168 (Alexander Hamilton) (Ron P. Fairfield ed., 2d ed.1981) (explaining that "[n]othing can be more evident, than that an exclusive power of regulating elections for the national government, in the hands of the State legislatures, would leave the existence of the Union entirely at their mercy"). Over the protest of some Southern delegates, Framers approved language giving Congress power to "make or alter" the states' regulations. See 5 Elliot's Debates 401-02 (statement of James Madison). As modified to give Congress this supervisory power, this language became the Elections Clause. Gonzalez v. Arizona , 677 F. 3d 383 (9th Cir. 2012)