LibGuides: Election Law: Introduction

Purpose & Scope

This research guide is designed for law students interested in researching and learning more about election law. Election law covers a wide array of topics, including political spending, voting rights, ballot propositions, redistricting, gerrymandering, and campaign finance.

This guide is divided into five parts: Introduction, Organizations & Government Entities, Current Awareness, Secondary Sources, and Primary Sources.

The Introduction page is an excellent place to begin if you are unfamiliar with the area of law. The study aids and CALI lessons will help you gain a better understanding of this area of law and provide you with the knowledge needed to thoroughly research your legal issue.

The Organizations & Government Entities page will provide you with links to organizations, associations, and government entities. These resources may be useful when beginning your research.

The Current Awareness page will provide you with links to blogs, news, and other sources of current awareness for this topic. Current awareness sources are useful when you are developing a research topic, or when you need to stay up-to-date with recent developments in this area of law.

The Secondary Sources page will includes links to treatises, law reviews and journals, and other materials that will provide you with an overview of the area of law, along with expert commentary and analysis.

The Primary Sources page will provides access to cases, statutes, regulations, and other primary sources you should consult when researching this area of law.

Developing a Research Strategy

Before diving into a research project, it's essential to have a strategy for how you will conduct your research.

At the Law Library, we've developed a research worksheet that you can use to help organize the information you've been given and develop a plan for your research. Feel free to make copies and use it as you're given research assignments.

GSU Law Library Legal Research Worksheet

Study Aids

Election Law in a Nutshell by Daniel P. Tokaji
ISBN: 9781634602761
Publication Date: 2016-11-07
Election law is a dynamic and rapidly expanding field that generates enormous public interest. It is also of great practical importance to lawyers and law students, with increasing litigation and many controversial Supreme Court decisions such as Bush v. Gore, Citizens United v. FEC, and Shelby County v. Holder. This Nutshell provides a succinct and thorough description of the law governing elections, the right to vote, and the political process in the United States. The topics addressed include "one person, one vote," gerrymandering, minority voting rights, ballot access, voter identification, recounts, direct democracy, and campaign finance. The Nutshell covers U.S. constitutional law in these areas, as well as the Voting Rights Act, Federal Election Campaign Act, and other essential statutes. It includes Evenwel v. Abbott, McDonnell v. United States, and other cases from the 2015-16 Supreme Court Term.
Examples and Explanations for Legislation, Statutory Interpretation, and Election Law by Richard L. Hasen
Examples & Explanations for Legislation, Statutory Interpretation, and Election Law, Second Edition is an up-to-date, user-friendly, and clear student-oriented treatise tackling the complex subjects in this field, including statutory interpretation, lobbying, bribery, redistricting, campaign finance law, and voting rights. The Second Edition is suitable for use with courses in Legislation and Regulation, Statutory Interpretation, Election Law, Voting Rights, and Campaign Finance. Written by Richard L. Hasen, one of the leading voices in the field of election law and legislation, no other statutory supplement is as comprehensive, up to date, and full of examples (and answers) to test student knowledge as Examples & Explanations for Legislation, Statutory Interpretation, and Election Law, Second Edition. New to the 2nd Edition: Coverage through the Supreme Court's June 2019 decisions, including partisan gerrymandering, court deference to agency interpretations, and the litigation over a citizenship question on the 2020 census Updated discussion of textualist methods of statutory interpretation following the death of Justice Scalia and the arrival of Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh Consideration of how increased political polarization shapes the legislative process and judicial review of legislation Updated material on campaign finance and voting rights Professors and students will benefit from: Straightforward presentation of often complex statutory and constitutional questions Examples based upon real cases and easy-to-understand explanations The book's suitability to a variety of courses including: Legislation, Statutory Interpretation, Legislation Regulation, Election Law, Voting Rights, and Campaign Finance
Understanding Election Law and Voting Rights by Michael R. Dimino, Sr.; Bradley A. Smith; Michael E. Solimine
ISBN: 9780769856155
Publication Date: 2016-10-01
Understanding Election Law and Voting Rights is an excellent supplement to any casebook in election law and a concise but thorough treatise. It is designed to provide students in law, political science, and other fields with a coherent, detailed, and accessible introduction to (or review of) election law. As a study aid, the text helps students synthesize and apply doctrine to typical problems and situations faced by practicing attorneys and policymakers. As a treatise, this book also assists scholars and practicing lawyers in understanding the complex statutes and cases that comprise "election law." This treatise explains election-law doctrine while also introducing the theoretical concerns that underlie the debates. Readers will come away from Understanding Election Law and Voting Rights knowing not only the holdings of cases and the meanings of important statutes, such as the Voting Rights Act, but they will also understand the contending views of free speech, equality, judicial authority, and political fairness that are present throughout the field. Understanding Election Law and Voting Rights takes readers through the electoral process, beginning with the right to vote and continuing through the election itself. Along the way, the authors provide thorough explanations of manifold topics, including Congress's power to protect voting rights, the use of race in districting, political gerrymandering, political parties' rights, the place of third parties, free speech and the First Amendment rights to participate in campaigns and run for office, campaign-finance regulation, vote-counting, and the role of courts in adjudicating disputes about political power and challenges to election "irregularities." Throughout the text, the authors explain election-law concepts in language that is easy to understand, even for readers without a background in constitutional law or political science.
Election Law Stories by Joshua Douglas; Eugene Mazo
ISBN: 9781634604338
Publication Date: 2016-04-08
One of the most dynamic fields in the legal academy now has its own Stories book. This title offers a rich and detailed account of the most significant cases in election law, including the landmark decisions of Reynolds v. Sims, Bush v. Gore, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, and Shelby County v. Holder. The book relies on a unique encapsulated approach to storytelling, as each of its authors surveys an important doctrinal area in the field through the telling of his or her story. The volume's thirteen cases concern the right to vote, redistricting and gerrymandering, campaign finance, and election administration. The book is suited for courses in the law of democracy at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Additional Research Guides

The following are additional research guides created by other schools that may be of assistance.

Be aware that links provided on the above guides are created specifically for that institution's patrons. If you see a source referred to on another guide that looks useful for your research, you can check to see if we have access to that source by checking the following:

GIL-Find
The library catalog for the GSU University Library and GSU Law Library. Use this to locate books, journals, movies, and databases available through the GSU libraries.
GSU Law Library Databases
Databases available to students through the GSU Law Library.
GSU University Library Databases
A list of non-legal databases provided by the University Library, organized by topic.