Ulland v. Growe’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 1 district · 8 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 13 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The state practice here differs significantly from those in the apportionment and other voting cases where the courts have exercised strict scrutiny, in that it does not create the same kind of immutable or absolute advantage or preclusion. In the apportionment cases, the district lines and populations were fixed and the effects of malapportionment unavoidable for voters within the disadvantaged districts. In contrast, the dilution effect herein depends upon the existence of a pool of presumably uninformed voters. Yet nonincumbents and their supporters have access to those voters and may, in theory and possibly in practice, so educate them as to eliminate the donkey vote and thus eliminate the statistical bias. Furthermore, the impact of the Massachusetts statutes on the total vote is not so clear that we can really define with anything approaching certainty, as would be possible in the apportionment cases, how significantly the- state is directly affecting the weight of anyone’s vote. The principle of dilution as affecting the fundamental right to vote would seem better reserved for the more clear-cut and certain cases of inequality.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 496 F. Supp. 462 - McLain v. Meier

2. “(1) Positional bias exists in most elections, but with a variable impact. (2) Candidates’ party affiliation is the single most important factor influencing a voter. (3) Because of the importance of party affiliation, the effect of positional bias is considerably more pronounced in nonpartisan elections. (4) The magnitude of positional bias tends to vary in inverse proportion to the visibility of a particular election. The less important (for whatever reason) the election, the greater the effect of positional bias. (5) Numerous factors other than ballot placement, including sex, ethnic background, and age, can influence an uninformed voter.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. New Alliance Party v. New York State Board of Elections

3. “The fact that some statistical advantage may at the same time accrue to one of the candidates by virtue of his or her incumbency does not for constitutional purposes invalidate that otherwise legitimate purpose, especially where that advantage remains problematic and variable from election to election. And whether for purposes of a more absolute fairness that advantage warrants a different statutory scheme is properly a legislative consideration.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Peterson v. Stafford