All posts by Derek Muller

Supreme Court will hear South Carolina racial gerrymandering case

May 15, 2023, 7:25 amredistrictingDerek Muller

Appeal from a three-judge panel decision in South Carolina in Alexander v. S.C. Conference of the NAACP. Earlier ELB coverage on the panel decision is here. That panel found that South Carolina’s First Congressional District was a racial… Continue reading

“How to Raise $89 Million in Small Donations — And Make It Disappear”

May 15, 2023, 4:39 amcampaign financeDerek Muller

Follow the money at the New York Times: A group of conservative operatives using sophisticated robocalls raised millions of dollars from donors using pro-police and pro-veteran messages. But instead of using the money to promote issues and candidates, an… Continue reading

“AI presents political peril for 2024 with threat to mislead voters”

May 15, 2023, 4:38 amcampaignsDerek Muller

Report from the Associated Press.

Shelby County invoked multiple times in Supreme Court’s opinion on California pork regulation

May 15, 2023, 4:38 amSupreme CourtDerek Muller

It’s a case about the dormant commerce clause and California’s power to prohibit the in-state sale of pork that comes from conditions California deems cruel. But the Supreme Court’s decision last week in National Pork Producers Council v. Ross had… Continue reading

Why did Justice O’Connor abandon her own Article II argument in Bush v. Gore?

May 4, 2023, 7:59 amBush v. Gore reflections, electoral collegeDerek Muller

Yesterday, I looked at the draft memorandum Justice Sandra Day O’Connor circulated on December 10, 2000, ahead of the December 11 oral argument in Bush v. Gore. Her memorandum focused on Article II. By December 12, however, the per… Continue reading

Justice O’Connor created the framework and the heart of the language for Chief Justice Rehnquist’s concurring opinion in Bush v. Gore

May 3, 2023, 10:09 amBush v. Gore reflections, electoral collegeDerek Muller

Many of the papers of the late Justice John Paul Stevens have been released, including papers from Bush v. Gore. Over at CNN, Joan Biskupic has a four-page memorandum that Justice Sandra Day O’Connor circulated to the justices before oral… Continue reading

What happens to Moore v. Harper after the latest North Carolina Supreme Court decision in the partisan gerrymandering case?

April 28, 2023, 10:04 amredistricting, Supreme CourtDerek Muller

What a mess. Rick H. links to the North Carolina Supreme Court’s decision in the partisan gerrymandering cases. The congressional piece of that is in front of the United States Supreme Court right now. Earlier, I blogged about how “mootness”… Continue reading

Does Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act prohibit intentional discrimination, or only election practices that had a discriminatory effect?

April 28, 2023, 7:45 amVoting Rights ActDerek Muller

The text of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, amended in 1982, contains this language:

Paul Clement leads cert petition in Mazo v. New Jersey Secretary of State on ballot speech issue

April 26, 2023, 11:50 amballot access, First Amendment theory, Supreme CourtDerek Muller

Late last year here at ELB, I highlighted the Third Circuit’s decision in Mazo v. New Jersey Secretary of State. (Disclosure: I filed an amicus brief in that case.) Check out that post for more on the background. Paul… Continue reading

11th Circuit finds Alabama’s felon disenfranchisement law passes constitutional scrutiny

April 26, 2023, 9:39 amConstitutional Right to Vote, election law and constitutional law, felon voting, NVRA (motor voter)Derek Muller

From an opinion by Judge Tjoflat, joined by Judge Moody (sitting by designation) in Thompson v. Secretary of State for the State of Alabama (lightly edited): Greater Birmingham Ministries, an Alabamian non-profit organization dedicated to aiding low-income individuals, and several… Continue reading

Supreme Court’s developing Compact Clause jurisprudence may affect National Popular Vote

April 18, 2023, 3:38 pmelectoral collegeDerek Muller

Years ago, as a law student (!), I published a piece in the Election Law Journal on the Compact Clause and the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. I wrote a follow-up there, too. In these pieces, I argued… Continue reading

Democratic, Republican fundraising for election litigation tops $154 million in 2021-22 cycle, 30% increase over 2020 presidential cycle

April 3, 2023, 1:28 pmcampaign financeDerek Muller

I’ve chronicled how the 2015 “Cromnibus” bill appears to have contributed to a sharp increase in spending on election litigation. The bill allowed additional contributions to “election recounts and contests and other legal proceedings,” above and beyond individual candidate campaign… Continue reading

Federal courts note circuit split on whether the “materiality” provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes a right privately enforceable under Section 1983

March 30, 2023, 8:50 amabsentee ballots, court decisionsDerek Muller

The “materiality” provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is as follows: No person acting under color of law shall . . . deny the right of any individual to vote in any election because of an error or… Continue reading

It appears the Supreme Court will retain jurisdiction over Moore v. Harper, but it’s not a sure thing

March 20, 2023, 3:49 pmSupreme CourtDerek Muller

Earlier this month, I highlighted the confusion around the jurisdictional issue in Moore v. Harper now that the North Carolina Supreme Court granted rehearing in Harper II and is reconsidering the holding in Harper I (i.e., the case the Court… Continue reading

Election Law Blog

The law of politics and the politics of law