Commentary: Election law resources for election year sleuths

Daily Record (Rochester, NY), Aug 26, 2008 by Joan Pedzich

It's a national election year filled with slogans, ads, sound- bites and more.

There are several terrific election law resources that may help readers to filter through a constant barrage of campaign messages, news stories and editorials. Political junkies, those with legitimate election law questions or those who just want to straighten out a brother-in-law's opinions should check out the election law resources identified.

The Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency tasked with administering the Federal Campaign Act. Its Web site (www.fec.gov) offers links to campaign finance laws, the commission's regulations, policy statements and advisory opinions. Information on election litigation, including campaign finance decisions, is included. Nice features also include alphabetical and subject indexes to FEC court cases.

At the state level, the New York State Board of Elections Web site (www.elections.state.ny.us) collects information for New York voters. Among the site's links are a calendar of election events, candidates' filing requirements, a voter registration verification database and lists of elected officials.

Many counties' boards of elections host Web sites. The Monroe County Board of Elections is online at www.monroecounty.gov/elec- tions-index.php and posts polling site information. Recent changes to places to vote are listed. Certified election results appear on the site along with voting district maps.

Megalaw's Election Law site is a well organized assembly of links to state and federal election laws, federal case law decisions, constitutional provisions related to elections and campaign finance information sites (www.megalaw.com/top/election.php).

Loyola Law School Professor Rick Hasen's election Law Blog (www.election-lawblog.org) deserves a spot on all shortlists of election-related sites. An expert in campaign finance and election law, Hasen compiles links to news, scholarly articles and commentary. Particularly interesting are summaries of pending litigation related to state and federal elections.

The U.S. State Department Bureau of Information Programs has launched a site on U.S. politics and elections at www.america.gov. Aimed at foreign audiences, the site provides basic information and links related to the electoral college, the candidates and their views, political parties, campaign finance and state and local elections.

The Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University hosts Election Law @ Moritz (www.moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/), which covers issues related to the administration of elections, including polling place procedures, recounts, election challenges, voter identification, and early and absentee voting.

Arianna Huffington hosts a site that tracks campaign contributions by individuals. Fundrace 2008 (fundrace.huffington- post.com/) is featured on Ms. Huffington's blog and allows contributions to be searched by individual name, address or profession. Although Huffington's blog is partisan, donation information comes from public records filed with the FEC for contributions totaling more than $200 to a Republican or Democratic presidential campaign or national party committee for the 2004 and 2008 election cycles. It's easy to find out the candidates to whom your neighbor donated, whether Paul Newman supports a particular candidate and whether your brother-in-law puts his money where his mouth is.

Joan Pedzich is director of library services for the law firm of Harris Beach PLLC. She also has held positions in the library of the Rochester Museum and Science Center and in the archives of the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House and is active in the Association of Law Libraries of Upstate New York and the American Association of Law Libraries.