All posts by Rick Hasen

“Trump Is Trying to Gain More Power Over Elections. Is His Effort Legal?”

March 26, 2025, 2:45 pmauthoritarian threats in US, election administration, Election Assistance CommissionRick Hasen

Nick Corasaniti for the NYT: President Trump pushed on Tuesday to hand the executive branch unprecedented influence over how federal elections are run, signing a far-reaching and legally dubious order to change U.S. voting rules. The executive order, which seeks… Continue reading

New Book on “Electoral Geography”

March 26, 2025, 12:03 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Igor Okunev has written this new book (sample on Amazon). Here is the description: Electoral geography is the study of the spatial dimension of the electoral process. It examines the factors and patterns underlying long-standing ideological and political splits… Continue reading

“Trump Administration Considers Money for Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioters”

March 26, 2025, 7:44 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: President Donald Trump said his administration was considering whether to establish a compensation fund for pardoned rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to stop certification of the election that he lost to former President Joseph. R.… Continue reading

President Trump Issues Dangerous Executive Order That Would Shift to Presidency More Power Over the Conduct of Federal Elections and Potentially Disenfranchise Millions of Voters

March 25, 2025, 2:03 pmelection administration, Election Assistance Commission, Election Meltdown, election subversion risk, Elections Clause, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

I am still making my way through this new Trump executive order on election administration (helpfully posted by Chris Geidner). There is a lot in here, but let me make four initial points as I still digest this. An executive… Continue reading

“Elon Musk Revealed Why He’s Spending Millions to Flip the Wisconsin Supreme Court; It’s all about preserving gerrymandered districts that lock in Republican power.”

March 25, 2025, 10:12 amjudicial elections, Plutocrats United, redistrictingRick Hasen

Ari Berman in Mother Jones: On March 22, Elon Musk hosted conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel and US Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) for a discussion on X about the importance of the Wisconsin Supreme Court election on April… Continue reading

“Law firms refuse to represent Trump opponents in the wake of his attacks”

March 25, 2025, 7:40 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

WaPo: President Donald Trump’s crackdown on lawyers is having a chilling effect on his opponents’ ability to defend themselves or challenge his actions in court, according to people who say they are struggling to find legal representation as a result… Continue reading

“Madison’s missing-ballot mess leads to an unusual claim for monetary damages”

March 25, 2025, 7:36 amvotingRick Hasen

Votebeat: Election officials in Madison are already facing a state and city investigation into the series of errors that resulted in nearly 200 absentee ballots not being counted in last fall’s election. Now officials there face a claim for compensation… Continue reading

“GOP legislators ask US Supreme Court to let them sue over Mich. election rules”

March 25, 2025, 7:32 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Michigan Public Radio: A group of Republican state lawmakers is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to clear the way for them to challenge two voter-approved amendments to the Michigan Constitution. This is a last-ditch effort by the GOP legislators to… Continue reading

“US Supreme Court turns away casino mogul Wynn’s bid to challenge NY Times v. Sullivan defamation rule”

March 25, 2025, 7:29 amFirst Amendment theory, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

John Kruzel for Reuters: The U.S. Supreme Court turned away on Monday a bid by casino mogul Steve Wynn to roll back defamation protections established in its landmark 1964 ruling in the case New York Times v. Sullivan – a… Continue reading

March 31 Safeguarding Democracy Project Webinar: “Combatting False Election Information: Lessons from 2024 and a Look to the Future”

March 25, 2025, 7:21 amcheap speech, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Looking forward to this (free registration required): Monday, March 31, 12:15pm-1:15pm PT, WebinarAlice Marwick, Director of Research, Data & Society, UNC Chapel Hill, Kate Starbird, University of Washington, and Joshua Tucker, NYU.Richard L. Hasen, moderator (Director, Safeguarding Democracy… Continue reading

“Georgia is planning one of the largest cancellations of voter registrations in U.S. history”

March 25, 2025, 7:09 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

AJC: Georgia election officials plan to cancel about 455,000 inactive voter registrations this summer, one of the largest registration removals in U.S. history. More than half the registrations scheduled for cancellation were identified by a 24-state organization called ERIC, which… Continue reading

The Retirement of Michael Wines from the New York Times Leaves a Big Hole in the Democracy Beat That the Times Must Fill

March 24, 2025, 4:19 pmelection law bizRick Hasen

Over the last eight years, veteran journalist Michael Wines did some of the most important reporting in the New York Times on the democracy beat. Rather than report on the latest day-to-day political food fights, Michael’s reporting was deep and… Continue reading

Travis Crum: Callais Oral Argument Recap

March 24, 2025, 2:52 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

The following is a post from Travis Crum: Here’s a recap of today’s oral argument in Louisiana v. Callais. At the outset, a short summary of what Callais is about. Callais is an old-school, 1990s-style Shaw challenge. The Callais… Continue reading

Election Litigation Hits Record, Increasing More than 14 Percent in the 2024 Election Cycle Compared to the 2020 Election Cycle, Despite End of Covid Pandemic

March 24, 2025, 7:58 amBush v. Gore reflections, legislation and legislatures, political polarization, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

As described in my forthcoming Essay, the results of updating my data on the rates of election litigation to include 2023 and 2024: The voting wars also brought a significant increase in litigation. The rate of election administration has… Continue reading