Coronavirus has presented difficulties in holding presidential primaries this spring and will continue to pose challenges for the general election. Some states have responded by implementing vote by mail (although those decisions have brought logistical challenges like those that Pennsylvania currently faces) while some that have not are facing lawsuits. The U.S. Supreme Court also recently issued a ruling about voting in Wisconsin in April, RNC. v. DNC, which involved questions about counting absentee ballots amidst the risks that in-person voting might present. This episode explores those cases as well as the latest news surrounding how Americans will vote in the midst of the pandemic, and, broadly, what the Constitution and Supreme Court precedent require. Election law experts Ned Foley and Michael Morley join host Jeffrey Rosen to discuss.
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PARTICIPANTS
Michael Morley is a professor at Florida State University College of Law where he focuses on election law, constitutional law, remedies, and the federal courts. He has participated in various election reform projects, and is currently working on an article entitled Election Emergencies: Voting in Pandemics from the Spanish Flu to COVID-19.
Edward B. Foley holds the Ebersold Chair in Constitutional Law at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law where he also directs its election law program. He is the author of the new book Presidential Elections and Majority Rule which he discussed in a Town Hall program hosted by the National Constitution Center last month. He is also the author of Ballot Battles: The History of Disputed Elections in the United States.
Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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Texas ruling on vote by mail – Texas Democratic Party v. Abbott (WD Tex. 2019)
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America's Town Hall program featuring Ned Foley – "How to Fix Presidential Elections in 2020 and Beyond"
This episode was engineered by Greg Scheckler and produced by Jackie McDermott. Research was provided by Maggie Gillespie and Lana Ulrich.
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