Professor Elmendorf Comments for New Republic on Potential Impacts of Hurricane on Election
Professor Christopher S. Elmendorf commented for The New Republic on the potential impacts of Hurricane Sandy on the November 6 election. With large areas of the country facing flooding and power outages as a result of the storm, questions have been raised about the potential need to reschedule voting or move polling places. Such measures could conflict with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires Justice Department approval for changes in voting procedures in areas with a history of racial discrimination in elections.
"DOJ has had a kind of pragmatic attitude towards Section Five, and I would expect pragmatism to be reflected in anything they do or they don't," Professor Elmendorf said.
Christopher S. Elmendorf is a Professor of Law at UC Davis School of Law whose teaching and research interests include election law, administrative law, statutory interpretation, constitutional law, and property and natural resources law.