All posts by Rick Hasen

“DOJ Voting Section Has Just Three Lawyers Left, Watchdog Estimates”

May 12, 2025, 10:12 amDepartment of JusticeRick Hasen

Democracy Docket: The voting section of the U.S. Department of Justice has only three attorneys left on staff, according to an estimate provided by a group working to support the department’s remaining staff. It’s a severe reduction in the voting… Continue reading

“Disputed North Carolina race offers playbook for beaten candidates, experts warn”

May 12, 2025, 7:50 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

Sam Levine for The Guardian: A disputed North Carolina state supreme court race that took nearly six months to resolve revealed a playbook for future candidates who lose elections to retroactively challenge votes, observers warn, but its ultimate resolution sent… Continue reading

“Auction to Dine With Trump Creates Foreign Influence Opportunity; When the bidding stops Monday, the top buyers of a Trump family crypto coin will win a tour of the White House.”

May 12, 2025, 7:30 ambribery, chicanery, conflict of interest lawsRick Hasen

NYT: The sale of face-to-face access to President Trump using the Trump family’s own cryptocurrency has done more than benefit him financially, though it has certainly done that. Mr. Trump announced last month that leading buyers of a digital… Continue reading

“Trump administration poised to accept ‘palace in the sky’ as a gift for Trump from Qatar: Sources”

May 11, 2025, 8:09 ambribery, chicanery, conflict of interest lawsRick Hasen

ABC News: In what may be the most valuable gift ever extended to the United States from a foreign government, the Trump administration is preparing to accept a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar… Continue reading

“After Criticism, Harris’s $900 Million Group Tries to Lay Out a Future”

May 11, 2025, 7:59 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

NYT: Ever since Vice President Kamala Harris lost the election in November, a big-money group that had raised over $900 million to support her but ultimately failed in its efforts has kept a low profile — even as Ms.… Continue reading

“Judges say unsolicited pizza deliveries are meant to intimidate them”

May 11, 2025, 7:55 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

WaPo: Federal judges say unsolicited pizza deliveries to jurists’ homes that began in February may number in the hundreds across at least seven states, prompting increased security concerns and a demand from a Senate leader for a Justice Department… Continue reading

“Trump made historic gains with minority voters in 2024. They are already pulling back in 2025”

May 11, 2025, 7:48 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Ron Brownstein: In 2024, Trump improved his performance among some big voting blocs that have historically favored Democrats, including Latinos, younger men, non-White voters without a college degree, and, to some extent, Black men. Trump’s advances generated exuberant predictions… Continue reading

“Trump, Raking In Cash, Expands His Power in the G.O.P. Money World”

May 10, 2025, 1:20 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: President Trump is harnessing the Republican Party’s all-encompassing deference to him to exert even greater control over the G.O.P. big-money world, which had long been one of the party’s final remaining redoubts of Trump skepticism. For years, the super… Continue reading

May 15 Event: “The FEC at 50: Broken and in Need of Reform”

May 9, 2025, 10:14 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

May 15 Common Cause event.

Justice Souter, Democracy Champion, Has Passed Away

May 9, 2025, 7:52 amelection law biz, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Justice David Souter passed away yesterday at age 85. He was nominated by a Republican president but skewing liberal in some key areas. He was smart in his questions on the bench and meticulous in his opinion-writing. I did not… Continue reading

“Trump Seeks to Strip Away Legal Tool Key to Civil Rights Enforcement”

May 9, 2025, 7:37 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: President Trump has ordered federal agencies to abandon the use of a longstanding legal tool used to root out discrimination against minorities, a move that could defang the nation’s bedrock civil rights law. In an expansive executive order,… Continue reading

“How Will We Know When We Have Lost Our Democracy?”

May 9, 2025, 7:33 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

Steve Letvitsky, Lucian Way, and Daniel Ziblatt NYT oped: How will Americans know when we have lost our democracy? Authoritarianism is harder to recognize than it used to be. Most 21st-century autocrats are elected. Rather than violently suppress opposition like… Continue reading

“Most Californians favor proving citizenship to vote, poll finds”

May 9, 2025, 7:30 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

LA Times: While California voters are sharply divided along partisan lines when it comes to election integrity and voter fraud, they broadly support a politically-charged proposal from President Trump and other Republicans to require first-time voters to provide government-issued identification… Continue reading

“2 lawsuits challenging Wisconsin’s congressional map filed with state Supreme Court”

May 9, 2025, 7:26 amredistrictingRick Hasen

WPR: Two lawsuits have been filed asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to declare the state’s congressional map unconstitutional ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The lawsuits come roughly a month after liberals retained their majority on the court with the… Continue reading