All posts by Spencer Overton

“Trump Escalates Race Attacks on Harris, Worrying Some Republicans”

August 2, 2024, 6:34 amUncategorizedracial appealsSpencer Overton

NYT: A day after telling an audience of Black journalists in Chicago that Ms. Harris had “all of a sudden” decided to become “a Black person,” Mr. Trump posted a photo on his social media site of Ms. Harris… Continue reading

“Secret Bundlers, Sham Donations: Adams Is Faulted in Campaign Audit”

August 2, 2024, 6:33 amUncategorizedCampaign financeSpencer Overton

NYT: Three years ago, as Eric Adams was running for mayor of New York City, his campaign was raking in donations from a broad range of mysterious sources. There was the $201,330 delivered by unidentified intermediaries through 57 clusters… Continue reading

“Pennsylvania’s long-running dispute over dates on mail-in voting ballots is back in the courts”

August 2, 2024, 6:31 amUncategorizedvote-by-mailSpencer Overton

ABC News: HARRISBURG, Pa. — A technical requirement that Pennsylvania voters write accurate dates on the exterior envelope of mail-in ballots was again the subject of a court proceeding on Thursday as advocates argued the mandate unfairly leads to otherwise… Continue reading

“Election Deniers Are Ramping Up Efforts to Disenfranchise Voters”

August 2, 2024, 6:29 amUncategorizedElection denier; misinformation; election conspiracySpencer Overton

Wired: For the past six months, election denial groups across the United States have been laser-focused on efforts to purge voter rolls in support of former president Donald Trump’s reelection bid. Using new apps and online tools, they claim… Continue reading

“States Legislating Against Digital Deception: A Comparative Study of Laws to Mitigate Deepfake Risks in American Political Advertisements”

August 2, 2024, 6:27 amUncategorizedArtificial Intelligence, deepfakesSpencer Overton

Hayden Goldberg’s new piece on SSRN: Abstract Scholars have long debated whether or not new laws are needed to address new technologies and their risks, or if existing laws are sufficient. This thesis examines one of the newest technologies –… Continue reading

“How Samuel Alito got canceled from the Supreme Court social media majority”

August 1, 2024, 5:03 amUncategorizedcontent moderation, justice alito, Supreme CourtSpencer Overton

CNN: The hardline approach Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito takes usually gets him what he wants. This year it backfired. Behind the scenes, the conservative justice sought to put a thumb on the scale for states trying to restrict… Continue reading

“Trump Remarks on Harris Evoke a Haunting and Unsettling History”

August 1, 2024, 5:01 amUncategorizedcultural anxiety, identity, racial appealsSpencer Overton

News analysis by Lisa Lerer and Maya King in the NYT: The audience of Black journalists was prepared for a combative exchange well before Donald J. Trump took the stage on Wednesday for an interview at their annual gathering… Continue reading

“Arizona official who defended state’s elections loses GOP primary”

August 1, 2024, 4:59 amUncategorizedelection administrationSpencer Overton

NBC News: PHOENIX — Incumbent Stephen Richer was ousted in his Republican primary for Maricopa County recorder, an outcome that could have a major impact on how elections are administered in the nation’s most populous battleground county. State Rep.… Continue reading

“He Kept Investigating the 2020 Election. Now This Michigan Sheriff Faces Voters Himself.”

August 1, 2024, 4:58 amUncategorizedSpencer Overton

Bolts: On a sunny afternoon in July, a crowd of roughly 100 gathered to listen to their local sheriff campaign for re-election in southwestern Michigan. A self-described “constitutional sheriff” with longstanding ties to militia groups, Dar Leaf has made… Continue reading

“Kansas stops enforcing a law against impersonating election officials”

August 1, 2024, 4:56 amUncategorizedvoter registrationSpencer Overton

AP: TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is no longer enforcing a 3-year-old law making it a felony to impersonate election officials as it faces a legal challenge from critics who argue that the law has hindered efforts to register… Continue reading

“FEC Fines Georgia Republican Party $14,000 For Coordinating With True The Vote”

August 1, 2024, 4:55 amUncategorizedcoordination, FECSpencer Overton

Memorandum Opinion here.

“The Riddle of Race-Based Redistricting”

August 1, 2024, 4:53 amUncategorized14th Amendment, Reconstruction, Section 2, Voting Rights ActSpencer Overton

New scholarship by Travis Crum forthcoming in the Columbia Law Review—abstract below. Congrats on a great placement Travis! In the redistricting context, the Supreme Court has interpreted the Equal Protection Clause in diametrically opposite ways, subjecting mapmakers to competing hazards… Continue reading

“Amid new ballot drop boxes limits, Florida’s shorter hours cause voting rights worry”

July 31, 2024, 7:34 amUncategorizeddrop box, vote by mailSpencer Overton

USA Today: Robert Brigham, a retired math professor at the University of Central Florida, has difficulty waiting in line to vote, because of his concern about the lack of access to a clean restroom after his treatment for colorectal… Continue reading

“12 states have new voter ID laws. Ohio’s strict rules blocked 8,000 from voting”

July 31, 2024, 7:33 amUncategorizedSpencer Overton

USA Today: Lynn Brown is an 80-year-old Democrat from Cleveland who’s been voting since she was 18. But when she tried to do so in March, she had a problem she’d never experienced. Brown, who typically votes absentee, was… Continue reading