All posts by Rick Hasen

“Voters Are Deeply Skeptical About the Health of American Democracy”

October 27, 2024, 8:49 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: Nearly half of all voters are skeptical that the American experiment in self-governance is working, with 45 percent believing that the nation’s democracy does not do a good job representing ordinary people, according to a new New York Times/Siena … Continue reading

“America Is Having a Panic Attack Over the Election; Voters see permanent damage to the country if their candidate loses; ‘There are not enough gummies I can take to soothe the angst!'”

October 27, 2024, 8:45 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Molly Ball for WSJ: The sun was shining. Bruce Springsteen was strumming an acoustic guitar. Yet beneath the peaceful surface, the stadium packed with thousands of Democrats practically thrummed with anxiety. “I’m honestly legit kind of terrified,” said Rebekah Williams,… Continue reading

“‘Fully staffed’: Election offices relieved after feared poll-worker shortages don’t materialize”

October 27, 2024, 8:41 amelection administrationRick Hasen

CNN: Threats and smears against election officials and the voting process haven’t killed Americans’ confidence in the system and willingness to work the polls this year. Election administrators across the country, including the top seven battleground states and big cities like Los… Continue reading

“Battle of the billionaires: the mega rich spending to swing the US election”

October 27, 2024, 8:40 amcampaign finance, Plutocrats UnitedRick Hasen

FT: A small number of billionaires could help swing the result of the US presidential election, as many of the world’s wealthiest spend hundreds of millions of dollars to help their preferred candidate win. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are… Continue reading

“Elon Musk’s X is boosting election conspiracy theories with AI-powered trending topics”

October 27, 2024, 8:39 amcheap speech, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

David Ingram for NBC News: Elon Musk’s social media app X is supercharging the spread of voter-fraud conspiracy theories with the help of artificial intelligence, boosting unfounded claims including two personal smears against Vice President Kamala Harris. The dubious content… Continue reading

“Democrats Ready Thousands of Lawyers for Final Days of Race”

October 27, 2024, 8:37 amelection law biz, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

WSJ: Remus, a partner at Covington & Burling, is a Yale Law graduate with a diverse résumé, including a clerkship to conservative Justice Samuel Alito. Her inner circle includes Bob Bauer, a personal lawyer to Biden and White House counsel… Continue reading

“US intelligence assesses Russian operatives behind fake video showing Pennsylvania ballots being destroyed”

October 26, 2024, 12:46 pmcheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

CNN: US intelligence has assessed that Russian operatives were behind a fake video purporting to show someone destroying mail-in ballots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, that circulated on social media Thursday. “The IC (Intelligence Community) assesses that Russian actors manufactured… Continue reading

I Spoke with MSNBC’s Alex Witt about a Possible “Blue Shift” in Ballot Reports, a Potential Trump Premature Victory Declaration, and More on Musk and His Lottery for Those Who Register to Vote

October 26, 2024, 12:40 pmelection administration, election subversion risk, vote buyingRick Hasen

You can watch the segment at this link. One thing we discussed was my article in Slate this week, Why the “Blue Shift” Everyone Seems to Have Forgotten Might Be More Dangerous This Time.

“These super PACs are spending more to get Trump elected than his campaign itself”

October 26, 2024, 10:12 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Politico: Donald Trump is counting on heavy financial backing from an array of super PACs to get him elected — far more than Kamala Harris is. The groups supporting Trump, working across different platforms to get him elected, spent… Continue reading

“Barricades and Bulletproof Glass: A County Prepares for Election Day”

October 26, 2024, 9:50 amchicanery, election subversion riskRick Hasen

NYT: With northeastern Pennsylvania awash again in the reds and oranges of a dazzling autumn, workers recently planted boulders around a government building in downtown Wilkes-Barre to address a seasonal ugliness. But this was no beautification project. Luzerne County is… Continue reading

“Republican Legal Challenges to Voting Rules Hit a Rough Patch”

October 26, 2024, 9:47 amThe Voting WarsRick Hasen

NYT: The legal wars over election rules are raging even as voters around the country cast ballots. And several recent efforts by groups aligned with former President Donald J. Trump to challenge voting rules have been coming up short in… Continue reading

“Election Officials Face Torrent of Threats as Nov. 5 Looms”

October 25, 2024, 3:15 pmchicanery, election administrationRick Hasen

NYT: With less than two weeks until Election Day, law enforcement officials are confronting a rising wave of threats to election workers and political activists in a presidential contest hurtling toward a bitterly contentious coda and a potentially unsettled aftermath.… Continue reading

“Lancaster County officials hold onto crucial details of investigation over ‘fraudulent’ voter registration applications”

October 25, 2024, 3:10 pmchicanery, voter registrationRick Hasen

LNP: Thousands of voter registration applications submitted to the Lancaster County elections office are being reviewed because some of them may be fraudulent, District Attorney Heather Adams announced Friday. At a news conference alongside the Lancaster County Board of… Continue reading

Fifth Circuit in Bonkers Opinion Holds It Violates Federal Law for Miss. to Accept Ballots Postmarked by Election Day But Arriving After Election Day; Decision (for Now) Won’t Be Applied to This Year’s Election (Which Has Already Started)

October 25, 2024, 2:22 pmabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

You can find the opinion here, coming from the most radical panel of the judges on the Fifth Circuit (and that of course is saying something). I am on multiple deadlines, so a full analysis of the merits will… Continue reading

Election Law Blog

The law of politics and the politics of law