All posts by Justin Levitt

DOJ flips on SCOTUS purge case

August 7, 2017, 5:14 pmDepartment of Justice, NVRA (motor voter)Justin Levitt

Justin here (and with a caveat: at DOJ, I worked on amicus briefs on this issue, including in this case). Today, DOJ filed an amicus brief in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute. The case, now at SCOTUS, is… Continue reading

What are all these NC redistricting cases?

May 26, 2017, 2:24 pmredistricting, Supreme Court, Uncategorized, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

There are a bunch of North Carolina redistricting cases stacked up at the moment. A few of these are in front of the Supreme Court, and could move as early as Tuesday. Since we just had a North Carolina redistricting… Continue reading

Partisan Gerrymandering Case Status

May 22, 2017, 2:00 pmpolitical parties, redistrictingJustin Levitt

The Court’s decision this morning in the North Carolina redistricting case addressed allegations of predominant and unjustified racial intent. The state attempted to defend its actions, in part, by saying that it was just acting for partisan reasons. The legal… Continue reading

NC redistricting, from someone not named Rick

May 22, 2017, 11:44 amredistricting, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

Rick Hasen and Rick Pildes have already weighed in on the NC redistricting case this morning. I agree with much of the Ricks’ analysis, and their assessment that this was utimately a win for voting rights plaintiffs. But I have… Continue reading

Gerrymandering and partisan composition of Congress (cont.)

February 14, 2017, 4:18 pmredistrictingJustin Levitt

At Rick (Hasen)’s request, I wanted to add just a bit to Rick (Pildes)’s original post on the new paper by Jowei Chen and David Cottrell, proposing a means to assess the net partisan consequences of congressional redistricting. Given the… Continue reading

What the Heck is Going On in Arizona Redistricting?

June 30, 2015, 5:18 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtJustin Levitt

Justin here. And with all of the action in Arizona redistricting over the past few days, I thought I’d throw up just a little update, to help sort out what’s what — I’d have written a shorter post, but I… Continue reading

The Critical Federalism Issue at the Heart of the Alabama Redistricting Cases

November 17, 2014, 11:18 pmelection law and constitutional law, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

Justin here, with a thought on last week’s oral argument in two consolidated cases about Alabama’s redistricting process. There’s an issue lurking at the heart of the dispute that may be difficult to spot in the transcript. The cases concern… Continue reading

KY Electioneering Ban – Modified on Appeal

October 19, 2014, 10:25 amelection administrationJustin Levitt

It looks like my wrap-up post from yesterday is already out of date. Late Friday, the 6th Circuit granted a partial stay of the KY decision on electioneering. The district court’s order is stayed — and electioneering is prohibited… Continue reading

“Voter ID Laws and Partisan Competition in the American States”

October 18, 2014, 5:05 pmelection administration, The Voting Wars, voter idJustin Levitt

I missed this new paper from William Hicks, Seth McKee, Mitchell Sellers, and Daniel Smith. The abstract: We undertake a comprehensive examination of restrictive voter ID legislation in the American states from 2001 through 2012. With a dataset containing approximately… Continue reading

Where We Stand

October 18, 2014, 2:54 pmThe Voting WarsJustin Levitt

A wrapup of what’s where in the world of prominent election-related litigation after the events of the last week: AR photo ID law: not in place. Permanently struck down by AR Supreme Court 10/15. TX photo ID law: in … Continue reading

Coverage of and Reactions to the SCOTUS TX Voter ID Ruling

October 18, 2014, 12:40 pmelection administration, Supreme Court, The Voting Wars, voter idJustin Levitt

AP, The Hill, LA Times, McClatchy, MSNBC, NPR, NY Times, Politico, SCOTUSblog, Wall St. Journal, Washington Post, Washington Times. Texas AG, Campaign Legal Center, Lawyers’ Committee … Continue reading

Stays (and Lack of Stays) Everywhere

October 18, 2014, 12:39 pmelection administrationJustin Levitt

On Tuesday, I noted that an NC trial court found unlawful discrimination against students in the decision to move an early voting site from off of Appalachian State’s campus and into downtown Boone. Late yesterday, an NC appellate court stayed… Continue reading