Voting for Balance: The Third Circuit Splits with the Sixth Circuit over the Press's Right to Access Polling Stations in PG Publishing Co. v. Aichele

Abstract

In 2013, in PG Publishing Co. v. Aichele, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit applied the experience and logic test to the voting process, contradicting the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s previous application of a traditional forum analysis to the voting process in its 2004 Beacon Journal Publishing Co. v. Blackwell decision. This Comment argues that the experience and logic test properly balances the government’s interest in privacy against the public’s interest in access to information. In contrast, applying a traditional forum analysis to the right of access creates the potential for the government to hide behind a veil of secrecy.