All posts by Rick Hasen

“Justice Department Announces Four Cases Brought by Election Threats Task Force”

October 24, 2024, 7:34 amchicanery, Department of JusticeRick Hasen

Release: The Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force (ETTF) announced developments this week in four cases involving interstate transmissions of threats to election personnel and other victims. Teak Brockbank, 45, of Cortez, Colorado, pleaded guilty today to threatening a Colorado… Continue reading

Barton Gellman: “Your Vote is Safe”

October 24, 2024, 6:41 amelection administration, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Must read in TIME: As the American experiment nears its semiquincentennial, is it capable of holding a secure election with a trusted process and a widely accepted result? If the outcome is not to Trump’s liking, can democracy defend itself… Continue reading

Must-Read WaPo: “American creating deepfakes targeting Harris works with Russian intel, documents show”

October 24, 2024, 6:38 amcheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

Catherine Belton for WaPo: A former deputy Palm Beach County sheriff who fled to Moscow and became one of the Kremlin’s most prolific propagandists is working directly with Russian military intelligence to pump out deepfakes and circulate misinformation that targets… Continue reading

“After news of DOJ warning, Elon Musk’s super PAC didn’t announce ‘daily’ lottery winner on Wednesday”

October 24, 2024, 6:36 amDepartment of Justice, vote buyingRick Hasen

CNN: Elon Musk’s super PAC didn’t announce a winner for its “daily” $1 million giveaway to registered swing state voters on Wednesday, the same day news broke that the Justice Department warned Musk’s group that its sweepstakes might be illegal. The pro-Trump… Continue reading

“Georgia election official says battleground state fended off cyberattack likely from a foreign country”

October 24, 2024, 6:34 amchicanery, election administrationRick Hasen

CNN: Georgia’s secretary of state’s office this month fended off a cyberattack believed to have come from a foreign country against the website voters use to request absentee ballots, the office told CNN. The state’s cyber defenses — aided by tech firm Cloudflare… Continue reading

“Trump’s Allies Revive Debunked Voting Machine Theories”

October 23, 2024, 4:00 pmfraudulent fraud squad, voting technologyRick Hasen

NYT: It has been nearly four years since a parade of judges dismissed wild claims from Donald J. Trump and his associates about hacked election machines and a year and a half since a leading machine company obtained a $787.5… Continue reading

Divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court, In Case Involving Mail-In and Provisional Ballots, Tees Up Potential Independent State Legislature Theory for U.S. Supreme Court

October 23, 2024, 3:27 pmelection administration, provisional ballots, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Genser v. Butler County Board of Elections involves a very particular issue under Pennsylvania law, but it raises a potentially larger one that could make it to the Supreme Court. To simplify just a bit: voters send in their mail-in… Continue reading

“Georgia’s Republican secretary of state finds just 20 noncitizens registered to vote out of 8.2 million”

October 23, 2024, 12:10 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

CNN: A review of the millions of registered voters in Georgia found just 20 noncitizens were registered to vote, Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Wednesday. Those 20 people were removed from the state’s voter rolls – which… Continue reading

“SCOOP: DOJ sends Musk PAC warning letter”

October 23, 2024, 11:54 amDepartment of Justice, vote buyingRick Hasen

Tom LoBianco: The Justice Department’s head of election crimes sent a warning letter to Elon Musk’s America PAC Monday, alerting it that it was a crime to knowingly offer anything of value to register to vote or vote, a… Continue reading

“How tech companies can help secure the election after Election Day”

October 23, 2024, 11:47 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Important from Katie Harbath and Nicole Schneidman.

Big Liar’s Dividend Moment Coming?

October 23, 2024, 11:33 amcheap speechRick Hasen

Hmmm.

“Russia and Iran may fuel violent post-election protests in the US, intelligence officials warn”

October 23, 2024, 11:18 amchicaneryRick Hasen

AP: Russia and Iran may try to encourage violent protests in the U.S. after next month’s election, senior intelligence officials warned Tuesday in a declassified memo, citing two recent examples of foreign intelligence agencies seeking to sow discord… Continue reading

“The Secretive Billionaire Network Funding ‘Stop the Steal’ 2.0”

October 23, 2024, 10:19 amelection subversion risk, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

WSJ deep dive: When Donald Trump refused to concede the 2020 election, he and his allies led a chaotic effort to overturn the results, spreading conspiracy theories, filing dozens of unsuccessful lawsuits and encouraging “Stop the Steal” protests… Continue reading

“Wisconsin’s Blue Cities Brace for Another Onslaught of ‘Stolen Election’ Accusations; Wisconsin state lawmakers failed to pass key changes officials say could have helped dispel misinformation and lies about the election.”

October 23, 2024, 7:08 amelection administration, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Notus: Little has changed in Wisconsin to facilitate a faster vote count since 2020, and election leaders in the state’s biggest and bluest cities — where ballots take the longest to count — are bracing for another onslaught of attacks.… Continue reading

Election Law Blog

The law of politics and the politics of law