All posts by Tabatha Abu El-Haj

“Republicans in North Carolina pass sweeping changes to consolidate power”

November 20, 2024, 3:09 pmelection administration, legislation and legislatures, provisional ballotsNorth CarolinaTabatha Abu El-Haj

Washington Post. North Carolina Republicans are back at it! The North Carolina legislature (controlled by Republicans) is seeking “last-minute inclusions” in a hurricane relief bill that “will strip the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general of significant authority before… Continue reading

“Californians turn down minimum-wage increase”

November 20, 2024, 6:57 amUncategorized2024 Election Cycle, Ballot InitiativesTabatha Abu El-Haj

Politico “The defeat of an initiative to raise the minimum wage to $18 an hour makes California the first state to reject a statewide minimum-wage increase at the ballot in almost 30 years, an outcome likely to reverberate across organized… Continue reading

“Ranked choice voting repeal now trailing by 45 votes ahead of final Alaska ballot count and tabulation Wednesday”

November 20, 2024, 6:29 amprimariesAlaska, rank choice voting, RCVTabatha Abu El-Haj

From the Anchorage Daily News. Approximately 5,800 ballots remain to be counted.

“DNC layoffs with no severance leave staffers scrambling, union says”

November 20, 2024, 6:22 ampolitical partiesTabatha Abu El-Haj

Washington Post has this intriguing story. DNC layoffs appear to go beyond the normal cycle of scaling back the political organization after an election. The article reports: “Those laid off included people who had been with the organization for 40… Continue reading

Election Update: House of Representatives might be at 217(R)-215(D)

November 20, 2024, 5:04 amUncategorized2024 Election CycleTabatha Abu El-Haj

Given the new vote tallies in the five outstanding races, Politico estimates that the House will be down to a very narrow margin after cabinet appointments. From the morning feed: “GOP Rep. JOHN DUARTE’s lead dwindled yesterday while fellow Republican… Continue reading

“Gov. Josh Shapiro defends Sen. Bob Casey’s recount choice and points to Dave McCormick’s own failed recount”

November 20, 2024, 4:56 amrecounts2024 Election CycleTabatha Abu El-Haj

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the costs of accuracy in the vote are causing political fallout. Governor Shapiro reiterates that PA law provides for an automatic recount where the margin is below 0.5% in statewide races and that McCormick himself… Continue reading

New Paper–“An Internet Voting System Fatally Flawed in Creative New Ways”

November 20, 2024, 4:38 amvoting technologyNew ScholarshipTabatha Abu El-Haj

Andrew W. Appel (Princeton, Computer Science) and Philip B. Stark (UC Berkeley, Statistics) have a new paper cautioning about a new software designed to accelerate the count for overseas votes by relying on the internet. . . . .… Continue reading

Call for Papers: Democracy Works-in-Progress Conference, April 10-11, 2025

November 20, 2024, 4:22 amUncategorizedcall for papers, ConferencesTabatha Abu El-Haj

The Michigan State University College of Law will be hosting a Democracy Works-in-Progress Conference on April 10-11, 2025. For purposes of the conference, “democracy” is broadly defined. The organizers hope to draw those who write and research in areas that fall under… Continue reading

“End the Criminal Cases Against Trump,” says Thomas Goldstein

November 19, 2024, 12:52 pmUncategorizedTabatha Abu El-Haj

Thomas Goldstein (SCOTUS Blog) offers his views on the criminal cases against Trump. The people have spoken; it is time to drop the cases: “Democracy’s ultimate verdict on these prosecutions was rendered by voters on Election Day.” I am not… Continue reading

“Manhattan D.A. Suggests Freezing Trump’s Case While He Is President”

November 19, 2024, 11:48 amUncategorizedNew York Case, Trump convictionTabatha Abu El-Haj

What to do about the sentencing of a convicted felon who will assume the highest office of the land? Trump: Obviously, dismiss the criminal conviction–to do otherwise is to impede my ability to perform my constitutional duties. Manhattan DA: Freeze… Continue reading

NC Supreme Court Race–Update

November 19, 2024, 11:34 amjudicial elections2024 Election Cycle, North Carolina Supreme Court, recountsTabatha Abu El-Haj

WRAL News: North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs, the Democratic incumbent, appears to have won her judicial race by “625 votes out of 5.5 million.” There are still some outstanding votes to be counted, but her Republican challenger… Continue reading

“Effort to repeal ranked choice voting and open primaries in Alaska on track to narrowly fail after latest ballot count”

November 19, 2024, 8:25 amabsentee ballots, primaries2024 Election Cycle, Alaska, rank choice voting, Top Four PrimaryTabatha Abu El-Haj

From Anchorage Daily News: “Results posted Monday showed 50.03% of voters opposed the measure repealing ranked choice voting, while 49.97% were in favor of the repeal. Just 192 votes separated the two camps, with more ballots set to be… Continue reading

“Ranked Choice Voting: What Happened & What’s Next”

November 19, 2024, 7:56 amprimaries2024 Election Cycle., Ballot Initiatives, election reform, rank choice voting, structural reformTabatha Abu El-Haj

Michael Parsons (FairVote, Senior Legal Fellow) and Meredith Sumpter (FairVote CEO) offer reflections at Democracy Takes on what the results of the 2024 ballot initiatives tell us about the future of rank-choice voting as a reform. A peek here: “In… Continue reading