Elections

When it comes to conducting elections in California, one trend is abundantly clear. State and federal laws continue to become more complex, and the consequences of failing to comply with these laws continue to become more severe.  Our election law practice model recognizes the critical need for election officials to receive timely, accurate and practical legal advice to solve election problems arising under state and federal law. Our firm is uniquely positioned to provide these expert services in this highly-charged area.

Our lawyers have unparalleled experience providing practical legal advice on the wide range of state and federal legal issues faced by election officials in California. Our firm includes a former San Francisco City Attorney and a former Chief Counsel to the California Secretary of State, who also served for ten years as counsel to the San Francisco Registrar of Voters, providing election law advice and representing the Registrar in election litigation.

Our firm's experience representing the Registrar of Voters provides us with a sound understanding of the practical problems faced by local election officials in conducting elections in accordance with strict timelines, and impressed upon us the critical importance of providing timely and practical election law advice. That experience also means that we are prepared to effectively represent officials in election litigation in the very constrained timelines inherent in such litigation.

Our experience representing local election officials is complemented by our experience advising and representing the Office of the California Secretary of State on cutting-edge legal issues, including the conduct of the historic October 2003 gubernatorial recall election, the Voting Rights Act, the Help America Vote Act, and the certification, security and reliability of new voting systems.

We offer a full range of election counseling and litigation services. The types of matters on which we advise and represent local election officials include:

• The initiative, referendum and recall processes, including the form and circulation of petitions, the verification of signatures and conduct of the election, and representation in litigation over these issues.
• Implementation of new voting systems.
• Compliance with the Voting Rights Act, including the minority language provisions of the Act.
• Compliance with the Help America Vote Act.
• Development of election materials in conjunction with our consultants who have expertise in election administration.

For more information on the firm's election practice area, please contact Randy Riddle (415) 678-3814