Researching Election Law

As we all know, the November 2024 election is quickly approaching. In anticipation of this occasion, we’ve gathered some resources to help you learn and think about election law. Whether you want to find out more about the Voting Rights Act, Bush v. Gore, or ballot counting, the Kathrine R. Everett Law Library has you covered!

Study Aids

The UNC Law Library offers several digital study aids to UNC Law students for free. All you need is your ONYEN and password!

1. Election law in a nutshell, 3rd Ed. (2024). This up-to-date supplement explores case law, constitutional law, the Voting Rights Act, the Federal Election Campaign Act, and other important statutes in its explanation of voting rights, gerrymandering, election administration, and campaign finance.
2. Election law stories. (2016). This unique resource presents 13 different stories written by 13 different authors, each of which explains a major election law case. There are four parts: The Right to Vote, Redistricting and Gerrymandering, Campaign Finance, and Election Administration.
3. Legislation, statutory interpretation, and election law: examples & explanations, 2nd Ed. (2020). This treatise, written for students, offers clear explanations of voting rights and campaign finance.
4. Understand election law and voting rights. (2016). This study aid provides chapters on political parties, term limits, vote counting, and remedying election errors, among many other subjects.

HeinOnline

HeinOnline, which can be accessed with your ONYEN and password, offers a comprehensive look at election law via its Voting Rights & Election Law LibGuide. On HeinOnline, you can view the relevant portions of the United States Code and the Code of Federal Regulations. You can also browse and search Congressional Research Service Reports, Government Accountability Office Reports, US Supreme Court briefs, congressional hearings, scholarly articles, books, and a plethora of other resources.

Case Tracker

The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law tracks pending and resolved election cases from across the country. You can browse a list of cases, search by case name, or filter by jurisdiction and topic. This resource provides case summaries and court filings.

50 State Surveys

The National Conference of State Legislatures has assembled state laws from across the country on topics including absentee voting, voter ID requirements, felon voting rights, election recounts, poll watching, and the Electoral College. For some of these topics, the laws are synthesized and displayed in tables and infographics that allow for easy browsing and comparing.