New Idaho Law Review article by Rick LaRue. Abstract: Our nation’s constitutionally prescribed governing structure has original problems (the Electoral College) and those that have developed over time (excessively long congressional tenures and, for the presidency, biased reelection timing and … Continue reading
Rick Hasen
David Cottrell, Michael Herron, and Dan Smith have posted this new draft. Here is the abstract: Although most ballots in the United States have historically been cast in-person, an increasing number of Americans are turning to mail-in voting during the … Continue reading
Details: Election Law at Ohio State is honored to host this panel of election law experts from around the country who will share their assessments of where things stand with 5 days to go before this unprecedented presidential election. THURSDAY, … Continue reading
As expected, Justice Kagan has denied the petition without referring it to the full court. We are still awaiting the ruling in the Pennsylvania petition before the Supreme Court, which could be a very big deal. … Continue reading
Steven Rosenfeld reports. … Continue reading
As I noted in this Slate piece earlier this week, “Generally, though, the Republican side may be far more successful in blocking lower court orders sought by Democrats and voting rights groups seeking to expand voting by mail. Although Democrats … Continue reading
WaPo: Facebook said Thursday it will permanently ban from its platform an Arizona-based marketing firm running what experts described as a domestic “troll farm” — in a probe of the deceptive behavior prompted by a Washington Post article last month.The firm, Rally … Continue reading
Interesting order. Judge Bybee would stop the registration extension as the Ninth Circuit continues the case. (h/t AZ Law) I guess the Governor and state legislature either chose not to appeal or don’t have the ability under state law, but … Continue reading
I’ve been quite critical of the Purcell Principle, most comprehensively in this piece, Reining in the Purcell Principle. Since I wrote that article, the Court has only made things worse. David Gans, in this careful ACS issue brief, brings this … Continue reading
Watch: "He's been disappointing" — Trump throws FBI Director Wray under the bus pic.twitter.com/15ftwI60fz— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 8, 2020 … Continue reading
NY Mag: Last night, livetweeting his thoughts on the 2020 vice-presidential debate, Republican senator Mike Lee decided it was an opportune moment to share one of his edgier political beliefs: Democracy is bad. We’re not a democracy.— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) … Continue reading
Hansi Lo Wang for NPR: The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to allow counting for the 2020 census to end soon.In an emergency request on Wednesday, Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall said that the Census Bureau must immediately wrap up … Continue reading
WaPo: With the nation’s eyes on Wisconsin — its coveted 10 electoral votes could again determine the outcome of the presidential race — municipalities across the state are finding themselves in a surprising position ahead of Nov. 3. Rather than … Continue reading
CPI reports. … Continue reading
Pam Fessler for NPR: With so many cases still up in the air, legal experts say it’s difficult to tell whether Democrats or Republicans are coming out ahead. Democrats have won numerous victories — including fending off a Republican effort … Continue reading
Las Vegas Review Journal: The Nevada Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked a conservative group’s challenge to a new Nevada law that allows for mail-in ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic.The lawsuit was filed by the Election Integrity Project of Nevada, backed … Continue reading
David Daley for The Atlantic: In 2019, writing the decision for Common Cause v. Rucho, Chief Justice John Roberts closed off the federal courts as an avenue for addressing partisan gerrymandering. But, Roberts insisted, the Supreme Court’s decision did not condone these … Continue reading
In light of this news, this is a relief from Politico: The effort to discredit the intelligence community’s findings that Russia hacked Democrats to harm Clinton’s candidacy comes almost exactly four years to the day after the U.S. intelligence community first … Continue reading
NYT: Over the past few weeks, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, and his lieutenants have watched the presidential race with an increasing sense of alarm.Executives have held meetings to discuss President Trump’s evasive comments about whether he would accept a peaceful … Continue reading
NYT: For decades, federal prosecutors have been told not to mount election fraud investigations in the final months before an election for fear they could depress voter turnout or erode confidence in the results. Now, the Justice Department has lifted … Continue reading
PBS News Hour: For many Native Americans living on tribal reservations, a home address is not a standard number and street name, like 735 Bleeker Street. Instead, it’s a series of instructions.“They’ll say something like, I live off highway 86 … Continue reading
WRAL: A federal judge in North Carolina sharply criticized Wednesday an absentee ballot procedure giving voters more leeway to fix incomplete witness information, but said he’d issue a written ruling at a later time.U.S. District Judge William Osteen said he’d … Continue reading
I was honored to participate in this event. Watch. … Continue reading
WSJ: On any given day over the past two years, visitors to the home page of RealClearPolitics were likely to see its famous average of political polls, a roundup of news and center-right commentary—and, near the bottom, a link or … Continue reading
Detroit News: Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office has referred a press release by the state’s Republican Party about an unlocked ballot drop box for investigation “as election misinformation.”The Democrat’s office announced the referral to Attorney General Dana Nessel … Continue reading
New working paper at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center. … Continue reading
Rohn Bishop: Scaring our voters away from absentee voting just in time for a COVID spike may end up being disastrous for GOP…. https://t.co/IY9DOZhgi0— Rohn W. Bishop (@RohnWBishop) October 7, 2020 (via Craig Gilbert) … Continue reading
CPI reports. … Continue reading
I’m looking forward to participating in this (registration required): Race, Reconstruction and Voting RightsOctober 13th, 5:30 PM ESTThe Constitution explicitly excluded African Americans and Indigenous People from Constitutional protection, and the Bill of Rights—drafted by the First Congress as the … Continue reading
Columbus Dispatch: Franklin County elections officials are scrambling to figure out how many voters received the wrong ballot in the mail as thousands more lined up across the state for the first day of in-person early voting.Problems with a thus-far undetermined portion … Continue reading
New guide from the Cleveland Clinic and the Bipartisan Policy Center. … Continue reading
Cleveland.com: State officials have told Cuyahoga County elections officials that they still can’t proceed with their plan to set up ballot collection sites at county libraries, saying a federal judge in a written order incorrectly described a policy set by … Continue reading
Daily Voice: Federal authorities on Wednesday arrested a postal carrier from Kearny who they said dumped 1,875 pieces of mail — including general election ballots and campaign flyers – instead of delivering them.Nicholas Beauchene, 26, was nabbed by special agents … Continue reading
Very worrisome development broken by ProPublica: The Department of Justice has weakened its long-standing prohibition against interfering in elections, according to two department officials.Avoiding election interference is the overarching principle of DOJ policy on voting-related crimes. In place since at least 1980, … Continue reading
Just watch this: Celebs including @SarahKSilverman, @TiffanyHaddish, and @chrisrock are stripping down to bring attention to naked ballots and encourage voters to follow vote-by-mail instructions (via @representus) pic.twitter.com/VMr3LVY2C7— NowThis (@nowthisnews) October 7, 2020 … Continue reading
NYT’s The Upshot. … Continue reading
Chief Justice Hecht delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Justice Guzman, Justice Lehrmann, Justice Boyd, Justice Blacklock, Justice Busby, and Justice Bland joined. Justice Blacklock, joined by Justice Busby except as to Part I.C., concurring in the denial of the … Continue reading
Per curiam opinion. … Continue reading
LA Times: More than 2,000 Los Angeles County voters got mail-in ballots with a very egregious flaw: no way to vote for U.S. president.The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office confirmed late Monday that about 2,100 “faulty ballots” were mailed … Continue reading
AP: Four weeks ahead of Election Day, senior national security officials provided fresh assurances about the integrity of the elections in a video message Tuesday, putting them at odds with President Donald Trump’s efforts to discredit the vote.“I’m here to … Continue reading
Michael Waldman and Wendy Weiser in Politico: Every day we work on the policies and law underpinning our elections. We regularly point out the flaws in our electoral system. They are real. But when it comes to stealing a national … Continue reading
This petition faces an uphill battle. Note the attempted distinction between “absentee” and “mail in” ballots and the attempt to argue around the Purcell principle. Note too that this does not come from state defendants objecting to the expansion of … Continue reading
He did not ask for a response. (I had thought there might be some interest at the Court in the issue presented there.) … Continue reading
Another case with the ridiculous line that “it’s the pandemic, not the State” to blame here. Also heavy on Purcell. … Continue reading
NYT reports. … Continue reading
The opinion and dissent are here on the question certified by the 7th Circuit. The action will shift back to federal court over the question of a federal court decision easing vote by mail during the pandemic in Wisconsin. … Continue reading
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Fiserv Forum and Miller Park will not be used for in-person absentee voting for the November election after all, the Milwaukee Election Commission announced Tuesday. Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall-Vogg cited “legal challenge concerns” as the reason behind … Continue reading
You can find the order at this link (via Zoe Tillman). … Continue reading
New Brennan Center resource. … Continue reading
AP: A federal appeals court on Tuesday denied a request for an emergency injunction to block most Montana counties from mailing ballots to active voters.A three-member panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the request filed by Joe … Continue reading