All posts by Derek Muller

“Senate Dems plot new paths on voting reform, sidestepping filibuster”

August 5, 2021, 2:18 pmelection administration, legislation and legislaturesDerek Muller

Politico details a new path using the Spending Clause instead of the Elections Clause (which has some filibuster-related advantages, too): As the fate of Senate Democrats’ signature ethics and voting reform package remains in limbo, they’re confident they can deliver… Continue reading

“One Year After Executive Order Restored Voting Rights To Iowans With Felony Convictions, Most Haven’t Registered To Vote”

August 5, 2021, 2:16 pmfelon voting, voter registration, votingDerek Muller

Katarina Sostaric at Iowa Public Radio: One year after Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed an executive order restoring voting rights to an estimated 35,000 to 45,000 Iowans with past felony convictions, about 5,000 of the newly eligible individuals have… Continue reading

“Report of Investigation Regarding Alleged Unauthorized Contacts by Federal Bureau of Investigation Employees with the Media and Other Persons in Advance of the 2016 Election”

August 5, 2021, 7:29 amDepartment of JusticeDerek Muller

The Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General has issued this report. A snippet: Although some of these media contacts were authorized under the FBI’s media policy, particularly those contacts by individuals working in the FBI’s OPA, many of the… Continue reading

“Libertarian vs. Liberation creates third-party conundrum on Virginia ballots”

August 5, 2021, 5:03 amballot accessDerek Muller

Virginia Mercury: Most Virginia voters go for candidates with a “D” or “R” next to their name, but who should have dibs on the “L?”This year, election officials preparing November’s ballots were faced with the dilemma of how to… Continue reading

Facebook disables accounts tied to NYU research project that studied political ads

August 5, 2021, 4:59 amcampaignsDerek Muller

Bloomberg: Facebook Inc. has disabled the personal accounts of a group of New York University researchers studying political ads on the social network, claiming they are scraping data in violation of the company’s terms of service.The company also cut… Continue reading

California appellate court turns back challenge to 2017 recall law

August 5, 2021, 4:53 amrecall electionsDerek Muller

The opinion in Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association v. Weber is here.

Investigation corrects claim that 74,243 Arizona mail-in ballots were counted that had “no clear record of them being sent”

August 4, 2021, 7:24 pmelection administration, recountsDerek Muller

An excerpt from an Arizona Mirror investigation: The county’s master file, known as the “voted list,” shows each person who cast a ballot in the election — and a letter code indicating whether they voted on Election Day, by mail… Continue reading

“Newsom can call recall proponents ‘Republicans and Trump supporters,’ judge rules”

August 4, 2021, 7:15 pmrecall electionsDerek Muller

Maura Dolan at the Los Angeles Times: A Sacramento judge tentatively decided Wednesday to reject a lawsuit by recall leaders challenging Gov. Gavin Newsom’s description of them as “Republicans and Trump supporters.”“As persuasively demonstrated by Governor Newsom,” Sacramento County… Continue reading

“Colorado lawyers who filed election lawsuit must pay rivals’ fees”

August 4, 2021, 7:06 pmelection subversion riskDerek Muller

From the Associated Press: A federal magistrate on Wednesday levied penalties against two Colorado attorneys for filing a class-action lawsuit that alleged the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump.The now-dismissed suit relied on baseless conspiracy theories spread… Continue reading

New York Senate Public Hearing today: “To solicit testimony on voting experiences and issues from voters in Syracuse”

August 4, 2021, 7:28 amelection administrationDerek Muller

Coverage and testimony here. It arises out of seeking to fix the problems surrounding New York’s 22d Congressional District election and a 109-vote margin of victory as certified by the board of elections. The problems prompted local election official… Continue reading

“Ex-Gov. Blagojevich files federal lawsuit challenging state law precluding him from running again”

August 4, 2021, 6:40 amballot accessDerek Muller

Chicago Tribune: The last time convicted ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich appeared in federal court in Chicago, he watched sullenly via a video link from prison as a judge resentenced him to 14 years in prison for an array of corruption… Continue reading

“The voting fix that cannot wait: Stopping partisan gerrymandering”

August 4, 2021, 6:34 amredistrictingDerek Muller

Michael Li op-ed in the Washington Post. As he notes, “On Aug. 16, the Census Bureau releases map data to states. After that, states are expected to rush to complete maps. Eighteen states, including Texas, Ohio and North Carolina,… Continue reading

“Redistricting battles kick off early as Democrats scramble to try to cut into GOP advantages”

August 3, 2021, 7:03 pmredistrictingDerek Muller

Washington Post: The battle over the once-a-decade realignment of legislative and congressional districts is underway across the country even before new maps have been drawn, with lawsuits filed in nearly a dozen states, signaling how intense the fight for… Continue reading

Election Law Blog

The law of politics and the politics of law