All posts by Justin Levitt

A spotlight on Miami, following up on the more general effort I’d flagged by prosecutors to fight back against the Florida legislature’s fines-and-fees limitations on the Amendment 4 initiative restoring the vote to those with convictions.

“Over-claiming knowledge predicts anti-establishment voting”

July 18, 2019, 11:16 ampolitical polarizationJustin Levitt

The study, in Social Psychological and Personality Science, examines voter behavior on an EU treaty.

“Voting by Phone Is Easy. But Is It Secure?”

July 18, 2019, 11:15 amprimaries, voting technologyJustin Levitt

Stateline focuses on a lot of questions about the plans for Iowa and Nevada caucuses.

“House votes to hold Barr and Ross in criminal contempt of Congress”

July 17, 2019, 5:24 pmcensus litigation, chicanery, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

AP, NYT, WaPo, WSJ, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, CNN. The vote, 230-198 (4 Democrats voting with Republicans uniformly against, and Rep. Amash voting with the rest of the Democrats) was for… Continue reading

“Two SCOTUS Vets Denounce Roberts’s Census Ruling as ‘One-Off’ and ‘Bizarre’”

July 17, 2019, 5:19 pmcensus litigationJustin Levitt

Michael Carvin and Kannon Shanmugam, with a bonus appearance by Miguel Estrada. I hope Mr. Carvin’s right that the Census ruling won’t really affect cases outside of this particular context. But I hope that’s because agencies won’t continue to… Continue reading

“Alarm sounds over census cybersecurity concerns”

July 17, 2019, 5:18 pmcensus litigationJustin Levitt

The fallout from yesterday’s hearing.

Microsoft and election security

July 17, 2019, 5:18 pmchicanery, The Voting Wars, voting technologyJustin Levitt

NBC reports on two Microsoft announcements, summarized in this blog post. The headline is that Microsoft is giving away free, open source ElectionGuard software to election machine suppliers. According to the site, it apparently “enables” voting using a touchscreen… Continue reading

“Feds end investigation into Trump Org and hush money payments”

July 17, 2019, 5:17 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryJustin Levitt

CNN, The Hill, NYT, WSJ have reports. Looks like the leaks were accurate after all.

LULAC v. PILF settle two different lawsuits

July 17, 2019, 5:17 pmchicanery, fraudulent fraud squad, voter registrationJustin Levitt

Well, one lawsuit, really, over publishing identifying information of individuals incorrectly accused of committing voter fraud. But you’d never know it was the same suit from reading the press releases. Plaintiffs here, defendants here. (Disclosure: I helped one… Continue reading

“Mississippi: Election lawsuit is not about voting rights”

July 17, 2019, 5:16 pmelection law and constitutional law, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

The AP has a story about a lawsuit challenging the requirement for winning statewide office that candidates win both a majority of the popular vote and a plurality of the vote in the majority of Mississippi state house districts.

“Make the Guarantee Clause Great Again”

July 17, 2019, 5:15 pmpolitical equality, political parties, redistrictingJustin Levitt

A clever title for a clever piece about partisan gerrymandering, and the doctrine holding the Guarantee Clause nonjusticiable. I’m inclined to agree on the substance.

Common Cause wants you to know what presidential candidates think about democracy

July 17, 2019, 5:15 pmprimariesJustin Levitt

They’ve got a 17-question survey polling the candidates on particular campaign and electoral reforms. Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg, Booker, Williamson, and Bullock have turned in their take-home exams already.