Preemption of Local Election Administration – Supplemental Materials

 In the United States, election law [“voting law”] and election administration are powers that are distributed across three levels of government: federal, state, and local. While state-governed election law determines voting eligibility and processes, local administration of elections—everything from registering voters to tabulating ballots—is controlled by local election officials (LEOs). LEOs are primarily concerned with facilitating the process and integrity of voting pursuant to the requirements of state election law.

In this document, a supplement to our white paper from Columbia Law Professor Richard Briffault, we outline what local election administration involves, common preemption practices for local election authority, and how preemption of this authority threatens democracy.

Read the supplement here. And click here to view the full white paper.