Publications
Democracy
Voting System Failures: A Database Solution
Failed voting machines, frustrated voters and lost votes: these have been a constant in news reports following every recent major election cycle. When it comes to system failures voting machines are different from other products: for the vast majority of voting systems in use today, manufacturers are not required to report malfunctions to any government agency, and there is no agency that investigates alleged failures.
Voting systems fail in a particular county in one election, and then again later, under similar circumstances, but in a different locale. These repeated failures disenfranchise voters and damage public confidence in the electoral system. This report calls for a regulatory clearinghouse – a national database, accessible by election officials and others, that identifies voting system malfunctions.
Authored by: Lawrence Norden
– 09/13/10
The New Politics of Judicial Elections, 2000-2009: Decade of Change
State judicial elections have been transformed during the past decade. The story of America’s 2000–2009 high court contests—tens of millions of dollars raised by candidates from parties who may appear before them, millions more poured in by interest groups, nasty and misleading ads, and pressure on judges to signal courtroom rulings on the campaign trail—has become the new normal.
For more than a decade, partisans and special interests of all stripes have been growing more organized in their efforts to use elections to tilt the scales of justice their way.
Authored by: the Justice at Stake Campaign, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, and the National Institute of Money in State Politics
– 08/16/10
Voter Registration in a Digital Age
This report is the first in-depth survey of state-based paperless registration innovations—“automated” voter registration, in which government offices like DMVs collect and transfer voter registrations electronically, and online voter registration, in which citizens submit voter registration applications over the Internet. Based on documentary research and interviews with election officials in fifteen states, this report explains how paperless voter registration works, reviews its development, and assesses its impact.
Authored by: Christopher Ponoroff, Edited by Wendy Weiser
– 07/13/10
Buying Justice: The Impact of Citizens United on Judicial Elections
The impact of the Citizens United decision will be most felt in judicial elections. Adam Skaggs looks at election spending history and what state laws Citizens United overturns to show how increased corporate spending in state judicial elections may threaten independent and impartial courts.
Authored by: Adam Skaggs
– 05/05/10
Renewing Democracy After Citizens United
Citizens United shook all who care about American democracy. But even before the U.S. Supreme Court’s radical ruling handed vast new power to corporations and their allies, it was plain: our political system is broken. This publication explains what fixes are necessary to have in place in order to renew our democracy.
Authored by: Michael Waldman and Susan Liss
– 04/26/10
Modernizing Voter Registration: Momentum in the States
Over the past year, there has been significant momentum in the states toward voter registration reform. This brief summarizes those developments.
Authored by: Wendy Weiser, Christopher Ponoroff and Nhu-Y Ngo
– 03/05/10
Improving Judicial Diversity
Looking at racial diversity on the bench, report finds too few states make efforts to systematically attract racially diverse judicial applicants. Authors offer recommendations and best practices to solving this disparity.
Authored by: Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, Monique Chase and Emma Greenman | Foreword by Susan Liss
– 03/03/10
Jim Crow in New York
Authored by: Erika Wood and Liz Budnitz
with Garima Malhotra
introduction by Charles Ogletree
– 02/12/10
Corporate Campaign Spending: Giving Shareholders A Voice
This report proposes changes in corporate law to adapt to the post-Citizens United reality. We propose changes, based on British law, to require managers of corporations to report political spending directly to shareholders, and to obtain authorization from the same shareholders when making election-related expenditures.
Authored by: Ciara Torres-Spelliscy
– 01/27/10
Modernizing Ohio’s System for Registering Voters: Automatic & Online Registration
This preliminary report examines Ohio’s current voter registration system, and recommends that Ohio adopt automatic and online voter registration.
Authored by: Wendy Weiser, Adam Skaggs, Christopher Ponoroff and Lawrence Norden
– 11/05/09