All posts by Ned Foley

Trump’s primary power

December 22, 2021, 5:56 amalternative voting systems, election subversion risk, primariesNed Foley

Henry Olsen for the Washington Post updates his top 5 list of the GOP primaries that will show Trump’s influence in the midterms. His new rankings list the Perdue-Kemp gubernatorial primary in Georgia first. When I contemplate this race, as… Continue reading

“As the GOP sheds its moderates, a whirlwind approaches”

December 21, 2021, 9:07 amalternative voting systems, election subversion risk, political parties, political polarizationNed Foley

This Washington Post op-ed, by Democratic consultant Doug Sosnik, is a counterpoint to the Virginia GOP self-description of Younkin’s victory there, as posted by Rick Pildes. While ranked-choice voting enabled Virginia Republicans to choose a gubernatorial nominee who… Continue reading

NPV effort in Michigan won’t affect 2024 election

December 16, 2021, 11:28 amelectoral collegeNed Foley

I’ve just been alerted to this: National Popular Vote compact won’t make Michigan 2022 ballot. Organizers may try again in 2024, according to the report, but pulling the plug on the effort to get on the ballot in 2022… Continue reading

Some Electoral College math

December 15, 2021, 6:26 pmelectoral collegeNed Foley

In a follow-up to my previous post, I thought I should detail some of the basic Electoral College arithmetic on my mind: Pennsylvania-specific scenario. Suppose the Electoral College results in 2024 are the same as in 2020 except for… Continue reading

Electoral College changes before 2024?

December 15, 2021, 9:25 amdirect democracy, electoral college, UncategorizedNed Foley

I don’t believe I’ve seen mentioned on ELB the effort to put the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact on the ballot next November in Michigan. As the Detroit Free Press reported a couple of weeks ago, supporters of the measure… Continue reading

Plurality versus Majority

December 13, 2021, 9:21 amUncategorizedNed Foley

On November 23, the Election Law at Ohio State program held a webinar entitled “The Problem with Plurality-Winner Elections: And can requiring majority winners help save democracy?” It was a great conversation that included Rachel Kleinfeld, Derek Muller, and Franita… Continue reading

David Perdue and Round-Robin Voting

December 9, 2021, 6:27 amUncategorizedNed Foley

David Perdue is the self-proclaimed candidate of election subversion, publicly declaring that unlike Brian Kemp (and Brian Raffensperger) he would have attempted to thwart Joe Biden’s recount-confirmed victory in Georgia last year, if he (Perdue) had been governor then.… Continue reading

Tournament Elections with Round-Robin Primaries (published version)

December 8, 2021, 6:10 pmUncategorizedNed Foley

The Wisconsin Law Review has posted online the published version of my symposium essay setting forth a majoritarian electoral system that uses Ranked Choice Voting ballots in a nonpartisan primary, with the general election being a face-off between the primary’s… Continue reading

The loss of competitive districts–and maybe democracy

November 20, 2021, 9:11 amUncategorizedNed Foley

Those who are closely following this cycle of redistricting are aware of the reduction in the number of competitive congressional seats. Politico, for example, has a story with the title “Kiss Your Swing Districts Goodbye“. The 538 website… Continue reading

The Problem with Plurality-Winner Elections

November 3, 2021, 5:21 pmalternative voting systems, political parties, political polarization, primariesranked choice votingNed Foley

Election Law at Ohio State is pleased to present a one-hour webinar on the issue of electoral system design: The Problem with Plurality-Winner Elections – And Can Requiring Majority Winners Help Save Democracy? It’s scheduled for Friday, November 19, at… Continue reading

How best to safeguard democracy? Two conflicting views on recent display.

October 17, 2021, 11:01 amelection subversion risk, political parties, political polarizationNed Foley

I am struck by how forcefully two very different strategies for defending democracy have been advocated this past week. First, Ian Bassin on The Bulwark podcast emphasized (and I’m paraphrasing here) that the advice he heard from Europeans combatting rising… Continue reading

Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment and January 6, 2025: the need for legislation now

October 14, 2021, 2:42 pmballot access, election subversion risk, electoral collegeNed Foley

All the current talk of Donald Trump running again in 2024 assumes that he’s eligible to serve as president if reelected. He’s not, or at least there’s a strong argument that he isn’t. In fairness to America’s voters, this argument ought… Continue reading

Three fixes Congress should make to save democracy

September 28, 2021, 10:36 amalternative voting systems, election subversion riskNed Foley

Here’s a new Washington Post column summarizing my takeaways from the conference that Rick organized and led last week. These are the three italicized headings for the congressional reforms that would help reduce the danger of election subversion specifically in… Continue reading

Initial Reaction to Eastman Memo

September 21, 2021, 4:56 amelection subversion risk, electoral collegeNed Foley

My first thought on reading the Eastman memo revealed yesterday was that it could wait until I do the relevant work for a planned second edition of Ballot Battles before I reflect on it in earnest. But in light of… Continue reading