and that’s bound to be an upgrade. Please send tips her way.
All posts by Justin Levitt
“We Just Want Someone Sane”
Frank Wilkinson in Bloomberg, in a piece with a Howitzer of a subheader:
Washington County, Pennsylvania, was never known as Crazytown. Then election deniers decided to run for local office.
“Why so many women are on the way out after making historic gains in N.J. Legislature”
Redistricting and the “party line” in New Jersey primaries receive some (but not all) of the blame.
“In Trump Case, Bragg Pursues a Common Charge With a Rarely Used Strategy”
The NYT works through the details of a falsifying business records charge and – despite the fact that there’s apparently no legal requirement to do so – the rarity of not making clear the underlying crime to convert the misdemeanor to a felony.
“Three Cases in North Carolina, Decades of Democracy Undone”
Gene Nichol spitting fire in Slate.
“Try again on no-excuse mail voting”
Henry Berger, of the New York City Bar’s Election Law Committee and the state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct, and Kathy Boockvar, former Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, urge New York to return no-excuse mail balloting to the permanent policy menu (the state had the system as a COVID-19 emergency measure but it expired at the end of 2022).
“There’s only one way to fix gerrymandering (and it’s not through the courts)”
In The Hill, Grant Tudor and Beau Tremitiere highlight their report on the congressional single-member-district statute.
I think various institutions in several states might want a word about the “only one way” in the headline (which op-ed columnists usually don’t write, despite the fact that their names are right underneath).
“A group offered cities money to opt in to ranked choice voting. State elections office warns accepting that is likely illegal”
In response to a question at a city council meeting, an advocacy organization’s representative apparently noted that one county’s implementation of RCV might cost an extra $36,000 for software licensing, ballot design, and the like … and that the organization would be willing to cover the gap. It’s not exactly an inducement to participate, but likely still violates Utah’s new law against accepting private donations. (And the advocate, saying she wasn’t aware of the law, has since backed off of the suggestion.)
I think it’s likely that the laws restricting private funding are going to end up with more complicated impacts than the legislators have foreseen, and not in ways that help local officials administer elections.
“Small donations equals big trend: Experts anticipate small donors to play large role in 2024 election”
The Republic, out of Columbus, Indiana, really nicely connects a national trend to local giving practices.
“Michigan commission finds ‘misconduct’ by pro-Trump attorneys in 2020 lawsuit”
Bridge Michigan with news on the state’s Attorney Grievance Commission, and its formal complaint against Sidney Powell, Lin Wood, and others (including 3 Michigan attorneys).
“Arizona official targeted by election deniers now struggles with PTSD”
WaPo with a profile of Maricopa Supervisor Bill Gates, and the extraordinary pressures on local officials when grifters drive the fever dream of conspiracy viral.
It’s not just Maricopa County
The Oklahoman reviews a new state law aimed at preventing harassment or threats against election workers, and prevents falsely acting as an election official.
“Guns at polls? Texas House approves bill to arm election workers”
“New Twitter rules expose election offices to spoof accounts”
The AP posts a dispatch from the Blue Check Battles.