All posts by Ned Foley

“The Democracy Constitution” proposal

July 22, 2021, 5:59 amtheoryconstitutional amendment, representationNed Foley

Rick’s new essay on the length of House terms got me thinking about the project recently undertaken by the Democracy to draft a proposed whole new constitution for the United States. I don’t recall seeing mention of this project on… Continue reading

North Dakota must pay attorney fees, expenses in tribal voter ID lawsuits

July 22, 2021, 5:28 amvoter idNed Foley

Bismark Tribune: An 8th U.S. Circuit of Appeals panel on Friday upheld a federal judge’s May 2020 order that the state pay $452,983. The state in February 2020 agreed to settle longstanding legal disputes with Turtle Mountain Band of… Continue reading

House terms are too short

July 22, 2021, 5:23 amUncategorizedconstitutional amendment, electoral structure, representationNed Foley

Rick Pildes in The NY Times makes a strong case on this point. As he acknowledges, however, a constitutional amendment to redress this problem seems out of reach for the foreseeable future.

Can House hardball end gerrymandering?

July 21, 2021, 2:29 pmUncategorizedNed Foley

An ELB reader kindly pointed me to this piece. (Thanks for the tip.) Written by distinguished authors whom I greatly admire, the argument is in my view gravely mistaken. First, let me try to summarize it fairly: the claim… Continue reading

You can’t have elections without election officials

July 21, 2021, 12:30 pmelection administration, election subversion riskNed Foley

CNN reports on the risk of “a mass exodus” among election administrators, threatening the ability to run elections in the future. A snippet: “Everything I’ve heard from state officials and from locals is how unbelievably stressful it is, that they… Continue reading

“21st Century Jim Crow” or Electoral McCarthyism?

July 21, 2021, 12:19 pmelection subversion risk, voting, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

This op-ed in The Washington Post, by John C. Ackerman, an Illinois county clerk, argues that calling the new state laws that cut back on voting opportunities “21st century Jim Crow” is a “vilification campaign” aiming “to smear Republicans… Continue reading

Pelosi rejects Banks & Jordan for 1/6 committee

July 21, 2021, 10:21 amelection subversion risk, political polarizationElectoral Count Act, January 6, The Big LieNed Foley

Breaking news.

“Complaint alleges group funneled data from RNC to lawmakers”

July 20, 2021, 3:50 pmcampaign finance, tax law and election lawNed Foley

AP reports on new filing with the IRS. [corrected link]

PA’s governor shifts on voter ID

July 20, 2021, 3:39 pmvoter idNed Foley

Jonathan Lai of the Philadephia Inquirer has the details.

Update on DOJ & non-prosecution about census

July 20, 2021, 1:16 pmcensus litigation, Department of JusticeNed Foley

Government Executive has corrected its story on DOJ’s decision not to prosecute Wilbur Ross, now noting that the decision not to prosecute was made in the previous administration. The original ELB post has also been updated to note this correction.

Tournament Elections with Round-Robin Primaries

July 20, 2021, 9:04 amalternative voting systems, ballot access, political polarization, primaries, theory, votingranked choice votingNed Foley

I’ve posted a draft of this paper on SSRN. Here’s the abstract: Round-robin voting uses ranked-choice ballots but calculates which candidates are most preferred by a majority of voters differently from instant-runoff voting. Like a round-robin sports competition, round-robin… Continue reading

7th Circuit affirms LVW’s NVRA suit against Indiana

July 20, 2021, 6:12 amNVRA (motor voter), voter registrationNed Foley

Indiana’s voter purge law flunks its second test in the Seventh Circuit. Courthouse News reports on this decision.

Report on the Georgia hearing; what’s next?

July 19, 2021, 7:39 pmelection subversion risk, redistricting, voting, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

Washington Post summarizes. Given the Republican non-participation, this doesn’t sound like an effective strategy to overcome a filibuster. USA Today reports that Senate Democrats, essentially abandoning S1, will turn instead to VRA reform “this autumn”; if true, this presumably… Continue reading

The Arizona Audit

July 19, 2021, 6:47 pmelection administration, election subversion risk, The Voting WarsNed Foley

There is more news about the seemingly endless Maricopa County pseudo-audit. Maybe I’m naive, but I’m inclined to ignore whatever “results” come from this inherently inappropriate process. If the so-called “results” are favorable to Trump, it’s meaningless. It’s equally meaningless… Continue reading