WaPo on next steps in the Jan. 6 inquiry: But so far the department does not appear to be directly investigating the person whose desperate bid to stay in office motivated the mayhem — former president Donald Trump — either… Continue reading

Persuasive evidence that circumvention of federal contribution limits has occurred since McCutcheon struck down the aggregate limits. A fundraising committee operated jointly by the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee in 2016 served as a vehicle for state parties… Continue reading

Matthew Seligman on Electoral Count Act reform: This Article exposes the vulnerabilities of the legal framework governing Congress’s role in resolving disputed presidential elections: the Electoral Count Act of 1887. The constitutional and statutory framework for resolving such disputes remains… Continue reading

Stephen Griffin on how voting rights commentary often ignores history, especially in the South. Unfortunately, this viewpoint leaves out one region and one group of surpassing importance to the Democratic party and, one hopes, to the nation as a whole… Continue reading

This is a guest post by Alec Ramsay of Dave’s Redistricting about a new class of metrics that measure whether redistricting plans favor one political party or the other. People tend to use the terms “bias” and “fairness” interchangeably and… Continue reading

New Brennan Center analysis of the pending Ted Cruz case. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this Wednesday in a case that marks the latest attempt to dismantle federal campaign finance rules. The case, Federal Election Commission v. Ted … Continue reading

A good summary of the contents of the FTVJRLA (I think that’s the right acronym). The new combined legislation largely draws on the Freedom to Vote Act to expand ballot access in several ways. The provisions include requiring states to… Continue reading

In his opinion concurring with today’s decision striking down OSHA’s vaccine/testing/masking rule, Justice Gorsuch reiterated the arguments he made in Gundy about congressional accountability. “The nondelegation doctrine ensures democratic accountability by preventing Congress from intentionally delegating its legislative powers to… Continue reading

I believe these are the first sedition charges filed on the basis of the Jan. 6, 2021 events: Stewart Rhodes — founder and leader of the extremist group Oath Keepers — was arrested Thursday on a charge of seditious conspiracy,… Continue reading

A Wisconsin judge suddenly discovers that, despite years of use, absentee ballot drop boxes are actually unlawful: Drop boxes have long been available in some Wisconsin communities, but their use expanded greatly in 2020 when absentee voting exploded because of… Continue reading

WaPo on Senators Manchin and Sinema prioritizing the filibuster over election reform: Democrats’ hopes of finally pushing through voting rights legislation after months of Republican opposition appeared to be fatally wounded Thursday as two Democratic senators announced they would not… Continue reading

WaPo on the path to a potentially climactic showdown over the pending voting rights legislation. Step one: the House passes a megabill combining the FTVA and the JLVRAA (and also including some amendments to the previous versions of these bills).… Continue reading

Rick already linked to the Ohio Supreme Court decision striking down the state’s legislative district plans because of their disproportionality and partisan intent. It’s worth flagging that this is the first time a pure partisan effect provision has been enforced… Continue reading

Kevin Johnson has this op-ed in The Hill: While healthy skepticism of GOP motives is certainly justified, Democrats are wrong not to take up the offer to fix the ECA. Voting rights are important, but the rhetoric behind prioritizing the… Continue reading