All posts by Rick Hasen

“Republicans Ran a Dysfunctional House. Voters Shrugged and Re-elected Them.”

November 14, 2024, 7:43 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

NYT: A historically long and divisive fight to choose one speaker. A near default on the federal debt, followed by a mutiny on the House floor and multiple government shutdown scares. The ouster of the speaker, followed by weeks of… Continue reading

“Prosecutors say they mistakenly gave jurors access to evidence in Menendez case”

November 14, 2024, 7:35 ambribery, Speech or Debate ClauseRick Hasen

Politico: Jurors in former Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial had access to evidence they should not have seen, federal prosecutors disclosed Wednesday in a surprise legal filing. During Menendez’s two-month corruption trial, a federal judge ruled that certain evidence could… Continue reading

PA GOP Senate Candidate McCormick Files Suit Against Bucks County for Counting Misdated/Undated But Timely Mail-In Ballots, as McCormick-Casey Race Goes to Likely Recount

November 14, 2024, 7:11 amabsentee ballots, recountsRick Hasen

Here is the complaint. AP: The U.S. Senate election in Pennsylvania between Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey and Republican David McCormick is headed for a statewide recount, as counties continued Wednesday to sort through outstanding ballots and the campaigns… Continue reading

Read PA State Court Opinion Concluding Elon Musk Did Not Engage in an Illegal Lottery with His $1 Million Giveaway to a Registered Voter (Opinion Does Not Discuss Legality Under Federal Anti-Vote Buying Law)

November 13, 2024, 11:08 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

You can read it at this link.

“As Trump Refers to Third Term, Democrat Wants to Leave No Constitutional Loophole”

November 13, 2024, 11:03 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: When President-elect Donald J. Trump met with House Republicans on Wednesday morning, he suggested he might need their help to try to circumvent the Constitution and run for a third term in the future — a comment that was… Continue reading

“Hovde tells talk radio host he lost, but stops short of conceding to Baldwin”

November 13, 2024, 8:48 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Wisconsin Examiner: Breaking a six-day silence after unofficial returns showed him losing to Sen. Tammy Baldwin, whom AP declared the winner of the Wisconsin U.S. Senate race by less than 1 percentage point, Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde on Tuesday… Continue reading

Cleta Mitchell Wants Every Lawyer in the Voting Section (and Likely in the Civil Rights Division) of the Department of Justice to Be Terminated

November 13, 2024, 7:53 amDepartment of JusticeRick Hasen

We’ll see how much sway her argument has with Trump and the new AG.

“Jack Smith Plans to Step Down as Special Counsel Before Trump Takes Office”

November 13, 2024, 7:21 amDepartment of JusticeRick Hasen

NYT: Jack Smith, the special counsel who pursued two federal prosecutions of Donald J. Trump, plans to finish his work and resign along with other members of his team before Mr. Trump takes office in January, people familiar with his… Continue reading

“Injunction Halting Kansas Election Law Reversed on Appeal”

November 13, 2024, 7:15 amcampaignsRick Hasen

Bloomberg Law: An injunction blocking a Kansas law barring organizations from sending mail ballot applications to voters containing personalized information was reversed by the Tenth Circuit on Tuesday, The court upended a ruling of the US District Court for the… Continue reading

“10 most-cited Election Law faculty in the U.S., 2019-2023”

November 13, 2024, 7:11 amelection law bizRick Hasen

Brian Leiter: Based on the latest Sisk data, here are the ten most-cited election law faculty in the U.S. for the period 2019-2023 (inclusive) (remember that the data was collected in late May/early June of 2024, and that… Continue reading

Sad News: Ted Olson Has Passed Away

November 13, 2024, 6:59 amelection law bizRick Hasen

Leading attorney Ted Olson of Gibson Dunn has passed away. He argued many important cases at the Supreme Court, including (most relevant to election law) Bush v. Gore and Citizens United. He was an excellent lawyer, serving as well… Continue reading

“The Internal Law of Democracy”

November 13, 2024, 6:55 amelection administrationRick Hasen

Kevin Stack has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Vanderbilt Law Review). Here is the abstract: The conventional focus of election law is the constitutional, statutory, and judicial constraints on election officials. But the operation of elections also depends on… Continue reading

Vladeck: “Nor, assuming he abides by the 22nd Amendment limiting a president to two terms, does Mr. Trump have to worry about running for re-election.”

November 12, 2024, 10:37 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Quite the aside from Steve Vladeck today in the NYT!

Republican Party Appeal of Lower Court Order Requiring the Counting of Misdated/Undated But Timely Absentee Ballots Reaches Pennsylvania Supreme Court

November 12, 2024, 10:22 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

You can read the petition in Baxter at this link. Republicans raise the independent state legislature theory at page 34 of the brief, potentially teeing up this issue for eventual review by the U.S. Supreme Court.