Election Law

The United States Code is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is divided by broad subjects into 54 titles and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Federal election statutes can be found in several titles and chapters of the U.S. Code. The FEC website provides a compilation of federal election campaign laws. Examples:

• Title 2, Chapter 14 of the U.S. Code covers Federal Election Campaigns.
• The Voting Rights Act is found at 42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.

Legislative history can be extraordinarily useful for determining the intent behind a law, whether you're trying to determine why the law was changed or what Congress meant by a specific phrase. Legislative history is typically found in documents created during the legislative process, including reports, hearings, records of debates, and different versions of the bill.

Code of Federal Regulations

The Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R) is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the Federal Government. It is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation. The 50 subject matter titles contain one or more individual volumes, which are updated once each calendar year, on a staggered basis

Federal election regulations are in Title 11 of the CFR. Chapter I addresses the Federal Election Commission; Chapter II addresses the Election Assistance Commission.

Federal Register

The Federal Register (Fed. Reg.) is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents.

The following provides information on where researchers can find applicable cases using the digest system and full-text keyword searching. 

Digest System 

The West Key Number System indexes cases into more than 400 topics and 100,000 points of law. Researchers can access the Topic and Key Number system using WestlawNext or by using a West Digest.

Suggested Topics

This is not an exhaustive or an authoritative list of relevant topics within the West Key Number System.

Full-Text 

The following are sources that allow you to perform full-text keyword searching for case law.

Locating foreign primary law on a particular topic can be difficult. The best sources for information on how to research the law of a particular country are: