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| Campaigns mobilise lawyers for legal ground game in election's swing states | Campaigns mobilise lawyers for legal ground game in election's swing states |
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| An army of thousands of lawyers is quietly amassing in the key swing states ahead of next Tuesday's presidential election in preparation for the largest legal ground operation to be fought in any American election. | An army of thousands of lawyers is quietly amassing in the key swing states ahead of next Tuesday's presidential election in preparation for the largest legal ground operation to be fought in any American election. |
| Hundreds of paid lawyers employed by the Obama and Romney campaigns, backed by a reserve force of thousands of volunteer attorneys who are jetting into the battleground states this weekend, will be monitoring polling stations on 6 November. Their job will be to prevent the rival side gaining an unfair advantage, and to be at hand to litigate should the vote be too close to call. | Hundreds of paid lawyers employed by the Obama and Romney campaigns, backed by a reserve force of thousands of volunteer attorneys who are jetting into the battleground states this weekend, will be monitoring polling stations on 6 November. Their job will be to prevent the rival side gaining an unfair advantage, and to be at hand to litigate should the vote be too close to call. |
| "Thousands and thousands of lawyers will be out on election day ferreting out any problems with voting rights," said Joseph Sandler, who led the Democratic party's legal team for 15 years until 2008. The attorneys will be on the look out for irregularities such as malfunctioning polling equipment, election officials failing to follow rules, or irregular opening hours at the polling stations, he said. | "Thousands and thousands of lawyers will be out on election day ferreting out any problems with voting rights," said Joseph Sandler, who led the Democratic party's legal team for 15 years until 2008. The attorneys will be on the look out for irregularities such as malfunctioning polling equipment, election officials failing to follow rules, or irregular opening hours at the polling stations, he said. |
| The presidential election of 2012 will herald the largest and most intricate legal ground game yet seen. "Very sophisticated operations have been put together in the swing states by both main parties, and my sense is that if they do go into battle they will be evenly matched," said Professor Edward Foley, who runs an election law centre at Ohio State University. | The presidential election of 2012 will herald the largest and most intricate legal ground game yet seen. "Very sophisticated operations have been put together in the swing states by both main parties, and my sense is that if they do go into battle they will be evenly matched," said Professor Edward Foley, who runs an election law centre at Ohio State University. |
| Over the past decade, the legal aspect of presidential elections has moved from a sideshow to being central to the campaigning process. The impetus for the shift was the 2000 election and the notorious legal fight that followed the disputed Florida result. | Over the past decade, the legal aspect of presidential elections has moved from a sideshow to being central to the campaigning process. The impetus for the shift was the 2000 election and the notorious legal fight that followed the disputed Florida result. |
| The events of that year, which ended up with the US supreme court blocking a recount and handing George Bush the presidency, caught both Republicans and Democrats off guard. Both sides have vowed never again to be put in that invidious position. | The events of that year, which ended up with the US supreme court blocking a recount and handing George Bush the presidency, caught both Republicans and Democrats off guard. Both sides have vowed never again to be put in that invidious position. |
| Sandler, who was a key adviser to Al Gore in his unsuccessful attempt to force a Florida recount in 2000, has watched the legal operation grow into a veritable army since that highly contentious election. By 2004, paid lawyers were already in place well in advance of election day, and by 2008, Barack Obama had developed a sophisticated network of lawyers that is likely to be the model in future elections. | Sandler, who was a key adviser to Al Gore in his unsuccessful attempt to force a Florida recount in 2000, has watched the legal operation grow into a veritable army since that highly contentious election. By 2004, paid lawyers were already in place well in advance of election day, and by 2008, Barack Obama had developed a sophisticated network of lawyers that is likely to be the model in future elections. |
| This year that model is being followed again, "but this time it is much more extensive," Sandler said. | This year that model is being followed again, "but this time it is much more extensive," Sandler said. |
| At its most dramatic, the army of lawyers assembled by both presidential campaigns could be called upon to litigate in the event of a battleground state returning so close a result that one of the candidates refuses to concede and demands a recount. In 2004, lawyers for John Kerry came close to challenging the result in Ohio but backed off after they realised that Bush had accumulated sufficient votes to win the state, and with it the presidency. | At its most dramatic, the army of lawyers assembled by both presidential campaigns could be called upon to litigate in the event of a battleground state returning so close a result that one of the candidates refuses to concede and demands a recount. In 2004, lawyers for John Kerry came close to challenging the result in Ohio but backed off after they realised that Bush had accumulated sufficient votes to win the state, and with it the presidency. |
| "When you have an incredibly close election as next Tuesday looks like it might be, it increases the chances of legal disputes and delays in announcing the winner," said Lawrence Norden, a voting rights experts at the Brennan Center for Justice within New York University. | "When you have an incredibly close election as next Tuesday looks like it might be, it increases the chances of legal disputes and delays in announcing the winner," said Lawrence Norden, a voting rights experts at the Brennan Center for Justice within New York University. |
| On the Democratic side, paid and voluntary lawyers will be keeping a particularly beady eye out for any signs of intimidation or disenfranchisement of voters in the wake of a slew of attempts by Republican legislatures to restrict voting practices this year. Most of the new voter suppression laws have been stayed by the courts, but Obama's legal army will be watching out for any residual foul play. | On the Democratic side, paid and voluntary lawyers will be keeping a particularly beady eye out for any signs of intimidation or disenfranchisement of voters in the wake of a slew of attempts by Republican legislatures to restrict voting practices this year. Most of the new voter suppression laws have been stayed by the courts, but Obama's legal army will be watching out for any residual foul play. |
| The lawyers leading the respective armies are two of the biggest shots in election law in the US. The Republican operation is led by Benjamin Ginsberg, who headed Bush's legal team in the 2000 Florida recount dispute. | The lawyers leading the respective armies are two of the biggest shots in election law in the US. The Republican operation is led by Benjamin Ginsberg, who headed Bush's legal team in the 2000 Florida recount dispute. |
| A former newspaper reporter with the Boston Globe, Ginsberg went on to become pre-eminent in election law. After his success in 2000, he commanded the army of attorneys deployed in Bush's in 2004 re-election, and has been at the legal helm of Romney's run on the White House both in 2008 and this year. | A former newspaper reporter with the Boston Globe, Ginsberg went on to become pre-eminent in election law. After his success in 2000, he commanded the army of attorneys deployed in Bush's in 2004 re-election, and has been at the legal helm of Romney's run on the White House both in 2008 and this year. |
| His counterpart for Obama is Bob Bauer, former White House counsel who returned last year to his private law firm Perkins Coie so he could spearhead the president's re-election bid from outside government. Bauer has been giving Obama legal advice ever since Obama came to Washington as a US senator in 2005. | His counterpart for Obama is Bob Bauer, former White House counsel who returned last year to his private law firm Perkins Coie so he could spearhead the president's re-election bid from outside government. Bauer has been giving Obama legal advice ever since Obama came to Washington as a US senator in 2005. |
| Bauer and Ginsberg are at the top of a pyramid structure that will see lawyers for both presidential candidates in place right across the battleground states come election day. Both teams have been working for months on preparing for whatever eventuality fate throws at them next Tuesday. | Bauer and Ginsberg are at the top of a pyramid structure that will see lawyers for both presidential candidates in place right across the battleground states come election day. Both teams have been working for months on preparing for whatever eventuality fate throws at them next Tuesday. |
| "You never know what comes up on election day. If the operation has done its job right, election day will be relatively uneventful as all the heavy lifting is done before then," said Sandler. | "You never know what comes up on election day. If the operation has done its job right, election day will be relatively uneventful as all the heavy lifting is done before then," said Sandler. |
| As the legal armies have grown since 2000, they have come to rely increasingly on volunteer attorneys flying in to the key swing states for election day. The Obama for America campaign has used its digital organising tool, Dashboard, to mobilise lawyers, paralegals and law students and direct them to the polling stations where they are needed most – a project called Victory Counsel. | As the legal armies have grown since 2000, they have come to rely increasingly on volunteer attorneys flying in to the key swing states for election day. The Obama for America campaign has used its digital organising tool, Dashboard, to mobilise lawyers, paralegals and law students and direct them to the polling stations where they are needed most – a project called Victory Counsel. |
| A campaign official said: "While it is easy to vote and we expect the election process to run smoothly, Obama For America has a team of legal volunteers and professionals prepared in case any difficulties do emerge." | A campaign official said: "While it is easy to vote and we expect the election process to run smoothly, Obama For America has a team of legal volunteers and professionals prepared in case any difficulties do emerge." |
| Philip Raible, a commercial litigator with the New York firm Rayner Rowe, is flying at his own cost to Cleveland, Ohio, on Saturday to volunteer for Obama's legal team. On Sunday he will spend three hours in a training session on election law, before being dispatched on election day to a precinct of Cleveland to monitor the poll. | Philip Raible, a commercial litigator with the New York firm Rayner Rowe, is flying at his own cost to Cleveland, Ohio, on Saturday to volunteer for Obama's legal team. On Sunday he will spend three hours in a training session on election law, before being dispatched on election day to a precinct of Cleveland to monitor the poll. |
| Coming from out of state, Raible is not able to enter a polling station, issue proceedings or appear before Ohio judges himself, so he will be acting in a purely supporting role to local lawyers on the campaign. But he thinks the effort will be worthwhile. | Coming from out of state, Raible is not able to enter a polling station, issue proceedings or appear before Ohio judges himself, so he will be acting in a purely supporting role to local lawyers on the campaign. But he thinks the effort will be worthwhile. |
| "I'm doing it because as a Democratic resident of New York, a Democratic state, my vote has very little impact on the election nationally, whereas if I can help Obama win Ohio it will have a much greater impact," he said. | "I'm doing it because as a Democratic resident of New York, a Democratic state, my vote has very little impact on the election nationally, whereas if I can help Obama win Ohio it will have a much greater impact," he said. |
| While lawyers will be fanning out through all the crucial swing states – including Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, Wisconsin and Virginia – the most intensive efforts will be in Florida and Ohio given their history of litigation in 2000 and 2004 respectively. | While lawyers will be fanning out through all the crucial swing states – including Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, Wisconsin and Virginia – the most intensive efforts will be in Florida and Ohio given their history of litigation in 2000 and 2004 respectively. |
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