Speaker Biographies
Edward B. Foley is director of the Election Law @ Moritz program at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and one of the nation’s leading experts on election law. His primary areas of expertise include campaign finance--especially the role of 527 organizations and provisional voting. Mr. Foley is also an authority on laws concerning contested elections and ballot recounts, as well as the rules that govern polling place observers. His other areas of expertise include ballot access for independent candidates, laws against voter intimidation, and get-out-the-vote efforts. Mr. Foley assisted the attorneys responsible for defending the constitutionality of the McCain-Feingold Act. Both the Federal Election Commission and the U.S. Senate Rules Committee have sought his expert opinion on election law. He has also been widely quoted by the media, including the Los Angeles Times and the Columbus Dispatch. Mr. Foley practiced law in Washington, D.C., with the firms Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering and Jenner & Block. In addition, he served as a law clerk to Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Patricia M. Wald of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
John C. Fortier is a research fellow at AEI. He studies American politics, the presidency, continuity of government, elections, the Electoral College, election reform, and presidential succession and disability. He is a principal contributor to the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project, the executive director of the Continuity of Government Commission, and a weekly columnist for the Hill. Mr. Fortier’s most recent books include Second-Term Blues: How George W. Bush Has Governed (edited with Norman J. Ornstein; Brookings Institution Press, 2007) and Absentee and Early Voting: Trends, Promises, and Perils (AEI Press, 2006).
Steven Huefner has wide-ranging experience and interests related to the field of election law, including the specific areas of term limits in state legislative elections, legislative redistricting, theories of representation, poll worker responsibility and training, and resolving contested elections. He monitored the topics of term limits, reapportionment and gerrymandering, and state campaign finance laws for The e-Book on Election Law. In 2000, Mr. Huefner joined the faculty of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where he teaches legislation and directs the Legislation Clinic. As director of the Legislation Clinic, Mr. Huefner has studied many aspects of Ohio’s electoral processes, including campaign finance law, lobbying regulation, other campaign practices, legislative term limits, and the initiative and referendum processes of direct democracy. Previously, Mr. Huefner spent five years in the Office of Senate Legal Counsel, where his responsibilities included advising the U.S. Senate in matters of contested Senate elections, as well as assisting in the 1999 impeachment trial. His published scholarship includes an article studying the impact of term limits on campaign financing.
Caroline Hunter was nominated to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) by President Bush in 2006 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 15, 2007. Her term of service extends through December 12, 2009. She comes to EAC having recently served as deputy director of the White House Office of Public Liaison from January to October 2006. From 2005 to 2006, Ms. Hunter served as executive officer at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman. From 2001 to 2005, she was associate counsel and then deputy counsel at the Republican National Committee, where she provided guidance on election law and the implementation of the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
Conny McCormack is the registrar of voters and the recorder/county clerk for Los Angeles County. She is responsible for conducting elections for the largest electoral jurisdiction in the United States. She conducts federal, state, and county elections and, via contract, conducts or supports local elections for eighty-eight cities, one hundred school districts, and 149 special districts. Ms. McCormack is responsible for recording property documents; maintaining and issuing birth, death, and marriage records; issuing marriage licenses; and filing business names and other statutory oaths annually.
Dan Tokaji is an authority on election law and voting rights. He specializes in election reform, including voting technology, voter identification, provisional voting, and other subjects addressed by the Help America Vote Act of 2002. He also studies issues of fair representation, including redistricting and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Mr. Tokaji’s published work addresses questions of election administration, political equality, and racial justice. His scholarship has appeared in such publications as the Michigan Law Review, the Stanford Law & Policy Review, and The Yale Law Journal. Mr. Tokaji authors the Equal Vote blog, which provides analysis and commentary on developments in the areas of election reform and voting rights. Media outlets have frequently sought Mr. Tokaji’s election law expertise, and the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Columbus Dispatch, the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, and USA Today have all quoted him on the subject. He has also appeared on the Today Show, Fox News, NBC News, and National Public Radio. Mr. Tokaji has appeared before several federal and state courts, including the California Supreme Court and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth and Ninth Circuits.
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