All posts by Dan Tokaji

“Preliminary opposition requested in split-California initiative challenge. What further action might the court take?”

July 12, 2018, 8:23 amdirect democracyDan Tokaji

Horvitz & Levy on the lawsuit filed earlier this week challenging the proposed initiative to divide California in three. More coverage of the case from the SF Chronicle.

Congressional Hearings on Election Cybersecurity

July 12, 2018, 8:11 amelection administration, voting technologyDan Tokaji

WaPo on yesterday’s hearings on both sides of Capitol Hill: “Momentum may finally be building in Congress to take new action to secure the elections from cyberthreats as the midterms approach.” Politico reports that: “The top Democrat on the Senate… Continue reading

New Filings in NC Partisan Gerrymandering Case

July 12, 2018, 7:53 amredistrictingDan Tokaji

Plaintiffs in Common Cause v. Rucho have filed a new brief before the three-judge district court addressing Gill‘s impact on both standing and the merits of their constitutional claims. The brief and exhibits along with a press release are available… Continue reading

FairVote on RCV in 2018

July 12, 2018, 7:30 amalternative voting systemsDan Tokaji

White paper available here. See also this Elite Daily story and this FairVote post on Santa Clara’s single transferable vote proposal. Update: FairVote vote also has this post on its amicus brief in the California VRA case against Santa… Continue reading

Yablon: “Campaigns, Inc.”

July 11, 2018, 8:02 amcampaignsDan Tokaji

Rob Yablon has posted this article on SSRN, forthcoming in Minnesota Law Review. Here’s the abstract: Election campaigns have become the domain of a thriving industry of paid political service providers. While leading scholars in other fields regard the rise… Continue reading

CAP Report on Increasing Voter Participation

July 11, 2018, 7:58 amelection administration, votingDan Tokaji

Available here. From the introduction: This report also outlines the following recommendations to drive voter participation and make the process of voting more convenient for eligible Americans: 1. Streamline voter registration with automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration (SDR), … Continue reading

North Carolina’s Early Voting Changes

July 11, 2018, 7:52 amelection administrationDan Tokaji

Slate: The new measure, which will take effect for the upcoming midterm elections, requires every early voting site in the state to stay open 12 hours a day each weekday (in addition to any weekend hours). By mandating… Continue reading

“Latinos Are Bringing A Growing Number Of Voting Rights Cases”

July 11, 2018, 7:42 amVoting Rights ActDan Tokaji

NPR: “Often, we talk about the big cases that involve gerrymandering, voter identification and redistricting, but a lot of legal action around voting actually happens in small cities and towns. And a growing number of those cases are being… Continue reading

“How Shelby County v. Holder Broke America”

July 11, 2018, 6:33 amVoting Rights ActDan Tokaji

The Atlantic: “the Court has established that not only are the legacies of Jim Crow no longer a valid justification for proactive restrictions on states, but the Court doesn’t necessarily have a role in advancing the spirit of the… Continue reading

“SC’s 13,000 voting machines unreliable, vulnerable to hackers, lawsuit alleges”

July 11, 2018, 6:20 amvoting technologyDan Tokaji

The State. The complaint filed in federal district court alleges: In South Carolina, the capacity of the state’s election system to record and count votes reliably is deeply compromised by the state’s unnecessarily vulnerable voting system. Throughout the state,… Continue reading

Appellate Briefs in Florida Voting Rights Restoration Case

July 10, 2018, 8:14 pmUncategorizedDan Tokaji

Here are the Appellants’, Appellees’, and Reply briefs in Hand v. Scott, to be argued before the Eleventh Circuit July 25. The district court concluded that Florida’s scheme violated the First Amendment by giving officials unfettered discretion over… Continue reading

“Austin siblings create board game to tackle gerrymandering”

July 10, 2018, 7:52 pmredistrictingDan Tokaji

Story and video here. One of the creators sends this message: My name is Josh Lafair, and I am a junior in high school. I have always believed that America, despite its polarization, is a great democracy. Then I… Continue reading

Coverage of Kavanaugh Nomination

July 10, 2018, 9:35 amSupreme CourtDan Tokaji

[Bumped to top] NYT calls Judge Kavanaugh a “Conservative Stalwart,” noting his involvement in an “extraordinary number of political controversies” since early in his legal career, including Ken Starr’s investigation of President Clinton and the 2000 Florida recount litigation. It… Continue reading

Montana Court Grants Relief in Challenge to Green Party Petition

July 10, 2018, 9:17 ampetition signature gatheringDan Tokaji

From the conclusion of the district court order in the case challenging the Green Party’s candidate petition: 1. Certain signatures on the Petition are declared invalid …. Removal of these signatures results in the Petition not qualifying in the 34… Continue reading