All posts by Rick Hasen

“Michigan AG Dana Nessel says Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson violated campaign law”

May 19, 2025, 5:53 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Detroit News: Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office has determined Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson broke the state’s campaign finance law on the day she announced her bid for governor, but there’s no mechanism to penalize Benson, who’s in charge… Continue reading

American Law Institute, as Part of Third Restatement of Torts, Affirms that Denying or Interfering with the Right to Vote is a Common Law Tort

May 19, 2025, 2:49 pmTorts, votingRick Hasen

Both the First and Second Restatement of Torts (in Section 865) recognized that certain intentional denials or abridgment of the right to vote constitute a common law tort. This has a long pedigree, going back to England, though common law… Continue reading

Breaking: Trump DOJ Agrees with Republican Party in Supreme Court Filing That Limits on Coordinated Political Party Spending Violate the First Amendment; Court Likely to Take Case and Strike Down Statute

May 19, 2025, 1:18 pmcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

I have been following this NRSC case for a long time, and long predicted a cert grant. After multiple delays, starting when Biden was still president, DOJ has filed its response in the Supreme Court to the Republican Party. In… Continue reading

“Judge deals blow to Arizona case over 2020 Republican electors”

May 19, 2025, 9:39 amelection subversion risk, electoral collegeRick Hasen

WaPo: An Arizona judge has ordered state prosecutors to send back to a grand jury a case in which Republicans were charged last year for their alleged roles in trying to overturn the 2020 election, potentially jeopardizing the high-profile indictments.… Continue reading

“New standards for Oklahoma high school students promote misinformation about the 2020 election”

May 19, 2025, 6:32 amauthoritarian threats in US, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

AP: Oklahoma high school students studying U.S. history learn about the Industrial Revolution, women’s suffrage and America’s expanding role in international affairs. Beginning next school year, they will add conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election. Oklahoma’s new social… Continue reading

“Scorn in the USA: Trump wants probe into celeb endorsements as Springsteen needles president”

May 19, 2025, 5:34 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Politico: U.S. President Donald Trump’s revenge campaign is continuing apace, with celebrities who backed his 2024 election opponent Kamala Harris now in his sights. The Republican leader launched a blistering tirade against legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen last week, calling him… Continue reading

“The Coalition That Powered Trump to Victory in 2024 Is Starting to Fray”

May 19, 2025, 5:32 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

WSJ: President Trump’s victory in 2024 not only put a Republican in the White House but gave the party hope that its appeal was attracting new groups of voters. Trump drew unexpectedly large shares of young voters and Black and… Continue reading

“How the Indian Media Amplified Falsehoods in the Drumbeat of War”

May 19, 2025, 5:22 amcheap speech, comparative election lawRick Hasen

NYT: The news reports chronicled India’s overwhelming successes: Indian attacks had struck a Pakistani nuclear base, downed two Pakistani fighter jets and blasted part of Pakistan’s Karachi port, the country’s oil and trade lifeline. Each piece of information was highly… Continue reading

“With Comey questioning, the Trump administration again targets speech”

May 17, 2025, 12:29 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

WaPo: After James B. Comey posted a photograph of shells on a beach arranged to spell “86 47” — a reference to President Donald Trump, the 47th president — the former FBI director said he believed the image was a… Continue reading

“Trump’s DOJ focuses in on voter fraud, with a murky assist from DOGE”

May 17, 2025, 12:26 pmfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

NPR: Last October, at a library in Boynton Beach, Fla., Yelyzaveta Demydenko went with her mom and stepdad to vote for the first time. Demydenko, who’s 22, told a federal investigator that she voted in the presidential election “because she… Continue reading

“Kansas ends mail-in ballot grace period. Why have other states followed?”

May 17, 2025, 12:21 pmabsentee ballots, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

KC Star: Once a bipartisan safeguard against postal delays and slow mail processing times, Kansas’ three-day mail ballot grace period is now gone — axed by lawmakers, challenged in court, and mirrored in a growing number of Republican-led states. Following… Continue reading

“Revisiting Section 2 and the Electors Clause: On the Right of the People to Choose Presidential Electors”

May 16, 2025, 3:45 pmelectoral collegeRick Hasen

Mark Bohnhorst has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Recent scholarship argues that Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment protects the people’s right to elect presidential electors. This Article offers fresh perspectives both on Section 2 scholarship… Continue reading

“Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC failed to pay swing state petition signers, new suit alleges”

May 16, 2025, 12:35 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

CNBC: Elon Musk’s America PAC didn’t keep its promise to pay swing state voters who signed a pro-Trump petition ahead of the 2024 election, and who enlisted others to do the same, a new lawsuit alleges. The case, a proposed… Continue reading

Banana Republic Dept: “Comey under investigation for ‘threat’ to Trump on social media, officials say”

May 16, 2025, 7:14 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

WaPo: Trump administration officials said Thursday that they would investigate former FBI director James B. Comey, whom they accused of threatening President Donald Trump after Comey posted a picture of seashells on a beach arranged to spell out “86… Continue reading

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