Edward B. Foley

Isadore and Ida Topper Professor of Law; Director, Election Law @ Moritz

Phone: (614) 292-4288
Email: foley.33@osu.edu
Office: Drinko 465

Education
B.A., Yale University, History, 1983 (magna cum laude)
J.D., Columbia University School of Law, 1986

Edward B. Foley is one of the nation's preeminent experts on election law. As Director of the Election Law @ Moritz program he is well versed in all aspects of election law.

His primary area of current research concerns the resolution of disputed elections. Having published several law journal articles on this topic, he is currently writing a book on the history of disputed elections in the United States. He is also serving as Reporter for the American Law Institute's new Election Law project.

Professor Foley's "Free & Fair" is a collection of his writings that he has penned for Election Law @ Moritz.

2012

• Feb. 8 - Federal Court Finds Equal Protection Violation
• Jan. 4 - Looking Ahead to the End of this New Year

2011

• Apr. 6 - Potential Wisconsin Recount: Initial Thoughts
• Jan. 27 - A Major Ruling on the Meaning of Bush v. Gore
• Jan. 20 - Two More Thoughts About Ohio's Provisional Ballot Case
• Jan. 19 - Questions for Counsel in Ohio’s Provisional Ballot Case
• Jan. 14 - Ohio Provisional Ballot Case: What Is Going On?

2010

• Dec. 9 - Bush v. Gore in Historical Perspective
• Dec. 9 - The Founders' Bush v. Gore
• Dec. 7 - Minnesota Supreme Court Settles Reconciliation Issue
• Dec. 3 - A Note on Reconcilation in Minnesota
• Nov. 3 - Echoes of New York’s “Stolen Senate”?
• Nov. 3 - Conflict in Connecticut?
• Nov. 3 - This Morning's View
• Nov. 3 - Races Still Too Close to Call
• Nov. 2 - Close Elections Are Healthy - If We Trust the Refs
• Sep. 15 - New York’s Voting Problems: Is It Possible to Be Both Nonpartisan and Competent?
• Sep. 14 - Top-10 List and Top-Two Candidates: Some Thoughts on This Election Season
• Jan. 22 - Citizens United: A Long-Term Perspective

2009

• Nov. 5 - Uncounted Ballots: A Measure of Vulnerability
• Oct. 20 - Election Commissions and Supreme Courts
• Sep. 9 - Line-drawing after Overruling Austin
• Aug. 1 - Line-Drawing and a Proposed Constitutional Truce
• July 31 - Citizens United, Stare Decisis, and Democracy
• July 1 - The Rhetoric of a "Stolen" Election
• June 30 - Impressive Unanimity: the Historical Significance of Coleman v. Franken
• June 1 - Conscientious Judging on Display
• May 14 - Factual Points and Uncertainties Relevant to the Coleman v. Franken Appeal
• May 5 - State Law Issues Loom Large in Coleman v. Franken Appeal
• Apr. 21 - Speculations about Equal Protection: The Difficulties of Principled Line-Drawing
• Apr. 14 - Out from the Shadows of Bush v. Gore
• Apr. 1 - Situation Normal: Election Too Close to Call
• Mar. 31 - Unsurprising Ruling Does Not End Minnesota Senate Case
• Mar. 19 - The Original Bush v. Gore: An Historical Perspective on Disputed Elections
• Feb. 19 - An Extra “Equal Protection” Thought: Local Policy or Local Mistakes?
• Feb. 16 - A Victory for the Rule of Law
• Feb. 12 - Minnesota Law and Federal Equal Protection
• Feb. 12 - In the Coleman-Franken Contest, the Three-Judge Court Will Now Be Tested
• Feb. 4 - Understanding Yesterday’s Rulings in Coleman v. Franken
• Jan. 22 - MN Contest Court Off to a Good Start
• Jan. 20 - Inauguration Day
• Jan. 15 - Electoral Reforms Must Include New Endgame
• Jan. 7 - Who Will Judge the Minnesota Contest?

2008

• Dec. 23 - What to Tell an Electoral Elf
• Dec. 9 - If the Minnesota Recount Involved a Presidential Race…
• Nov. 26 - New Bush v. Gore Precedent
• Nov. 25 - Eyes Now Turn to Ohio Supreme Court
• Nov. 18 - In '62, Minnesota set the recount standard
• Nov. 17 - A Visible Reason that Precludes a Victory Lap
• Nov. 10 - Voting next time—and in 2020
• Nov. 5 - Minnesota under the Microscope
• Nov. 4 - Four Sub-Categories of Uncounted Ballots
• Nov. 3 - Pennsylvania officials fear electoral flood tomorrow
• Nov. 1 - 3 Things I'm Watching For
• Oct. 29 - Waiting for a Presidential Winner: The Lessons of 1884 and 1916
• Oct. 28 - Unanimous Decision in McCain v. Obama (hypothetical)
• Oct. 22 - The Latest from the Land of [Election] Litigation
• Oct. 15 - The Need for a Structurally Nonpartisan Tribunal
• Oct. 9 - Purges & Provisional Ballots
• Oct. 7 - The First Bush v. Gore — and the Next:
  New York's Election of 1792 & Its Continuing Relevance
• Sep. 23 - McCain v. Obama, a U.S. Supreme Court hypothetical (one hopes)
• May 20 - A November Hypothetical
• Apr. 29 - Crawford and the Amicus Court: Further Support for a Non-Partisan Advisory Tribunal
• Apr. 28 - Setting an Example of Non-Partisan Judging: An 'Amicus Court' for Election Cases
• Apr. 15 - Federal Court Extension of Polling Hours: Problem, Proposal, Example (Part 3)
• Apr. 1 - Federal Court Extension of Polling Hours: Problem, Proposal, Example (Part 2)
• Mar. 18 - Federal Court Extension of Polling Hours: Problem, Proposal, Example
• Mar. 5 - Unjustified Federal Court Extension of Polling Hours
• Mar. 4 - Cross-over voting under Ohio law
• Feb. 25 - "Central Counting" of Paper Ballots in Ohio
• Feb. 19 - Administering the March 4 Primary in Ohio
• Feb. 6 - Super Tuesday and Provisional Ballots
• Jan. 9 - Oral Argument in Voter ID Case: Initial Impressions

2007

• Dec. 19 - Look to Minnesota for vote-counting solution
• Nov. 2 - Refining the Bush v. Gore Taxonomy
• Oct. 2 - The Supreme Court and Election Law: In Search of Doctrinal Specificity
• July 3 - Precedent and Judicial Responsibility
• June 19 - A Model Court for Contested Elections (Or, the “Field of Dreams” Approach to Election Law Reform)
• May 8 - Auditing a State’s Laws for Resolving Election Contests
• Apr. 10 - Running Elections in Cuyahoga County Next Year
• Apr. 5 - The Future of Bush v. Gore
• Feb. 14 - A Bipartisan Way to Settle a Disputed Presidential Election in Ohio?
• Feb. 13 - The Nation's Interest in Ohio's New Secretary of State
• Jan. 16 - Designing the Democracy Index

2006

• Dec. 19 - Election Reform's Top Priority: Changing the Electoral College Calendar
• Dec. 12 - Happy Birthday, Bush v. Gore
• Dec. 5 - Timing is Everything
• Nov. 28 - OH-15: Legal Issues in Recount
• Nov. 22 - Redistricting Reform: Back on the Agenda
• Nov. 22 - OH-15: 500 Provisional Ballots Invalidated
• Nov. 14 - Local Blackouts on the Electoral Grid
• Nov. 8 - Montana: Recount and Contest Laws
• Nov. 8 - Ohio: Wednesday Morning, 3:00am
• Nov. 7 - Be Thankful If It’s All Over By Thanksgiving
• Nov. 6 - The Adversarial Legal System at Work
• Nov. 5 - Transparency Promotes Trust
• Nov. 2 - Serious Issues Surface in Maryland
• Oct. 31 - Appellate Opinion in ID Case: No Pre-Voting Remedy Needed
• Oct. 28 - Ohio's ID Rules in the Appeals Court: What Next?
• Oct. 27 - Two Details of TRO in Ohio ID Case
• Oct. 27 - TRO in Ohio Voter ID Case: Initial Thoughts
• Oct. 25 - ID Disparities & Post-Voting Review of Provisional or Absentee Ballots
• Oct. 23 - Late Delivery of Registration Forms
• Oct. 23 - Absentee Ballots in Close Elections: Will They Provide Grounds for a Contest?
• Oct. 20 - Purcell v. Gonzales: Implications
• Oct. 20 - Supreme Court ID Opinion: Preliminary Analysis
• Oct. 16 - ID Equities?
• Oct. 16 - The Arizona Voter ID case in the Supreme Court: What's Next?
• Oct. 10 - How to Identify a Successful Election
• Sept. 5 - Will the Election System Function Properly This Year?
• Aug. 18 - Election Law at the High Court: Big Cases Leave Little Footprints
• July 25 - Ohio is not Mexico, but …
• July 3 - Justice Kennedy Deserves Praise, Part II
• June 28 - First Impressions of the Partisan Gerrymandering Portion of the Texas Case
• June 27 - The Importance of Randall's Indecisiveness
• June 13 - Online Voter Registration is the Answer
• June 6 - A Way to Rescue Redistricting Reform
• May 19 - Is Bipartisan Redistricting Reform Achievable?
• May 9 - Electoral Laments in Major and Minor Keys
• May 2 - Papers from Princeton Conference: Pildes, others
• Apr. 4 - A Review of the Transcript in the Texas Redistricting Case
• Mar. 28 - Will the Expansion of Absentee Voting Yield an Increase in Abuse?
• Mar. 7 - Incrementalist Election Law?
• Mar. 2 - A Guide to the District-Specific Claims in the Texas Oral Argument
• Mar. 1 - Politics and Race a Messy Mix in Argument on Texas Case
• Feb. 28 - Further Thoughts on the Vermont Oral Argument
• Feb. 28 - Majority of Court Skeptical of Vermont Campaign Finance Law
• Feb. 24 - Precedent and the Constitutional Law of Elections
• Feb. 14 - Doubleheader Tests the Court's Impartiality: EL@M to host Electronic Roundtable on Pending Pair
• Feb. 7 - The Remand in WRTL
• Jan. 17 - The Roberts Court and Precedent: An Early Test in the Context of Campaign Finance
• Jan. 3 - Will Election Law Become Clearer This Year?

2005

• Nov. 29 - The Federalism Defect in the Prosecution of Tom DeLay
• Nov. 15 - Future Redistricting Reform Must Learn From This Year's Mistakes
• Nov. 8 - The Ten Most Urgent Election Reforms
• Nov. 7 - How to Avoid an Electoral Katrina
• Nov. 1 - If not Issue 4, then what? Would opponents sign on to Arnold 's approach?
• Nov. 1 - Issue 3 is a Big Mistake
• Oct. 18 - Analysis: New and Old Arguments for Campaign Spending Limits: Will Any Convince the Court?
• Oct. 13 - The Significance of Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. v. Federal Election Commission
• Oct. 4 - Federal Courts Should Not Run State Elections
• Sept. 24 - The Need for a Fair Referee
• Sept. 13 - How to Hire a Fair Election Law Umpire?
• Sept. 6 - Is There a Middle Ground in the Voter ID Debate?
• July 19 - What Should the New Justice Do About Campaign Finance?
• July 5 - Fact-Specific Election Law
• June 7 - Refusing to Unseat a Governor Despite a Flawed Election
• May 24 - The People and their Constitution
• May 17 - The Filibuster and Democracy
• Apr. 5 - The Provisional Ballots of Unregistered Voters
• Mar. 29 - Verifying Voter Registration Lists, Part 2
• Mar. 22 - Verifying Voter Registration Lists
• Jan. 25 - When to Redo an Election?

2004

• Dec. 21 - Minimizing the Need for Provisional Ballots: A Reform Worth Wishing For
• Dec. 15 - How to Achieve Maximum Disclosure of "Electioneering Communications"?
• Dec. 13 - Analysis of Proposed Ohio Campaign Finance Bill (SB1/HB1): Electioneering Communication Provisions
• Dec. 7 - Investing in Politicians to Boost Corporate Profits
• Nov. 17 - When Should a Presidential Election Be Over?
• Nov. 11 - Problems with Provisional Ballots
• Nov. 10 - Election 2004 in Ohio: Some Unanswered Questions
• Nov. 5 - Voting Machines Per Capita: a Bush v. Gore Issue?
• Nov. 2 - Justice Stevens' Words of Hope – and Caution
• Nov. 2 - Sixth Circuit Opinions in Polling Place Challenges Cases: A Preliminary Analysis
• Nov. 1 - Judge Adams' Order in Summit County Parallels Judge Dlott's Ruling in Spencer, But Is Unclear in One Respect
• Nov. 1 - Judge Dlott's 11/1 Order Barring Challengers Statewide: A Preliminary Analysis
• Oct. 28 - The Nine In a Pickle
• Oct. 24 - Latest Developments & Current Situation: An Assessment
• Oct. 21 - Blackwell Files Appellate Brief in Provisional Ballot Case
• Oct. 5 - Blackwell's Mixed Record So Far
• Sept. 28 - Let the Sunshine In
• Sept. 21 - Lying to Win
• July 20 - Welcome to Election Law @ Moritz
• July 6 - Election Law 5-to-4
• June 29 - Comparing Two Cases
• June 22 - The Missed Opportunity of Vieth
• June 15 - The Necessity of Law for Democracy