LAW 669 - Election Law and Voting Rights Seminar

Course Type: Upper Writing Requirement
Credits: 2

Description: This seminar will examine the constitutional and statutory law governing elections and voting rights in the United States. We will first study the doctrinal development of voting rights as a matter of federal constitutional law under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The next major topic will be the Voting Rights Act of 1965, including minority vote dilution litigation under Section 2 and federal review of voting procedures under Section 5, as well as recent constitutional challenges to voting rights remedies. We then will examine state laws related to elections and voting rights, including legislative redistricting, voter and citizenship identification laws, and felon disenfranchisement. Finally, we will discuss the federal campaign finance system and the First Amendment.