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minorities. Other courts have divided sharply over whether the Voting Rights Act applies
to state laws that disenfranchise felons and ex-felons. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
for the 2 nd and 11 th circuits ruled that it does not apply. But the 9 th circuit has ruled that it
does apply. The Voting Rights Act outlaws state election laws and practices that create
greater barriers to voting by racial minorities than by non-minorities. The criminal
justice system in the United States has tended to imprison disproportionately more racial
minorities in most states and at most times in the nation’s history.
Free Speech for Candidates and Activists
On August 6, 2008, the U.s. Court of Appeals for the 9 th circuit ruled the First
Amendment protects “vote-swapping” web sites. Such a web site is enables people in
different states who do not know each other to meet (electronically) and to work out a
private agreement among themselves to vote strategically in presidential elections. Two
such sites were set up in California in 2000. They were for the purpose of letting Gore
supporters in states known to be uncompetitive (in that year’s presidential election) to
vote for Nader. In exchange, Nader supporters in states known to be highly competitive
would vote for Gore. The California Secretary of State in 2000, Bill Jones, ordered the
web sites to be shut down, threatening them that if they did not shut down, he would
prosecute them for bribery. The 9 th circuit ruled in Porter v Bowen (06-55517) that the
web sites were not engaged in bribery and that their activity cannot be banned.
On October 4, 2008, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled a law making it a
crime for a candidate to make an untrue statement about his or her opponent violates the
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Although the mainstream press reported on
this decision as upholding a “right to lie”, the candidate who won the lawsuit always
insisted that she had made a factual error when she charged her opponent with voting to
close a facility for the developmentally disabled. The evidence does not show that she
had “lied”. The case is Rickert v State (no. 77769-1). The vote was 5-4. The candidate
who won the case, Marilou Rickert, had been a Green Party candidate for the legislature
in 2002.
CALIFORNIA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTOR INITIATIVE
An initiative campaign was launched in 2007 to change the system of awarding
California’s 55 votes in the Electoral College. Currently, all electoral votes for President
and Vice President are awarded to the presidential-vice-presidential slate of candidates
receiving the largest number of popular votes in the state. The proposed initiative
proposition would award two electoral votes to the slate receiving the largest number of
state-wide popular votes. The remaining Electoral College votes would be awarded to
the slate winning the popular vote in each of the 53 congressional districts. Twenty of the
districts are viewed as safe Republican districts.