Election Law: A Comprehensive Guide to Voting Rights Redistricting and Campaign Finance

64 questions on election law, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Can a state control who votes in a political party's primary?
• Can foreign nationals participate in U.S. elections?
• Can partisan gerrymandering be challenged in federal court?
• Can states take away the right to vote from people with felony convictions?
• Can you sue the FEC for failing to act on a complaint?
• How are ballot access requirements analyzed?
• How can a state comply with both Section 2 and the Equal Protection Clause?
• How does a state defend a racial gerrymandering claim?
• How does the FEC enforcement process work?
• How do you actually win a voter ID challenge after Crawford?
• How strict is the population-equality requirement for redistricting?
• In what opposite directions have voting rights and campaign finance doctrine moved?
• Is a sub-10% deviation in state legislative districts automatically lawful?
• Is compelled campaign finance disclosure still constitutional after AFPF v. Bonta?
• Is there a federal constitutional right to vote?
• Is there a federal voter ID requirement?
• Is there still a private right of action under Section 2 of the VRA?
• What are the Brnovich guideposts for Section 2 vote-denial claims?
• What are the coordination safe harbors and loopholes?
• What are the Gingles preconditions for a vote dilution claim?
• What are the most common ways campaigns and super PACs illegally coordinate?
• What are the Senate Factors in a Section 2 case?
• What campaign finance disclosure requirements exist?
• What created super PACs?
• What did Allen v. Milligan hold about Section 2?
• What did Buckley v. Valeo establish about campaign finance?
• What did Bush v. Gore hold, and how far does it reach?
• What did Citizens United actually hold?
• What did Crawford v. Marion County actually hold about voter ID?
• What did Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute allow?
• What did McCutcheon v. FEC decide about aggregate contribution limits?
• What did Shelby County v. Holder decide?
• What did the Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022 change?
• What did the Help America Vote Act establish?
• What does the Federal Election Campaign Act actually regulate?
• What does the National Voter Registration Act require?
• What else did Buckley decide besides the contribution/expenditure distinction?
• What evidence does a Section 2 dilution case require?
• What federal statutes overlay state election administration?
• What is a coordinated expenditure and why does it matter so much?
• What is a racial gerrymandering claim under Shaw v. Reno?
• What is the Anderson-Burdick framework?
• What is the difference between vote denial and vote dilution under Section 2?
• What is the Elections Clause and what does it authorize?
• What is the FEC's three-prong coordination test?
• What is the independent state legislature theory and what did Moore v. Harper decide?
• What is the one person, one vote principle?
• What is the Purcell principle?
• What is the strongest defense to a Section 2 vote dilution claim?
• What kinds of vote-denial claims still survive after Brnovich?
• What other campaign finance restrictions has the Supreme Court struck down?
• What procedural vehicles are used to bring election law claims?
• What standing obstacles arise in election litigation?
• What state-law rules actually decide close elections?
• What was the practical effect of Shelby County?
• What were the two engines of the Voting Rights Act?
• Where can partisan gerrymandering be challenged after Rucho?
• Where does “dark money” actually come from?
• Who actually administers elections in the United States?
• Why are forum and timing so decisive in election law?
• Why does Section 2 of the VRA use a “results” test?
• Why is campaign finance compliance an engineering problem rather than a legal one?
• Why is the FEC unable to enforce campaign finance law effectively?
• Why is “we were being partisan, not racist” such a powerful defense?