All posts by Richard Pildes
Obama Got Zero Votes in At Least 38 Precincts in 2012
Mitt Romney’s failure to receive any reported votes in 49 Philadelphia election precincts in 2012 has been viewed suspiciously by some commentators, including Donald Trump, who recently said: “Philadelphia is one that’s mentioned. I think Romney got no votes… Continue reading
Justice Thomas’ 25 Years on the Supreme Court
At the Balkinization blog, I recently posted this, which might be of interest to some on this blog:
This month marks the 25th year that Justice Clarence Thomas has been on the Supreme Court, which means he has now… Continue reading
Turnout and Perceptions of Electoral Integrity
This chart, showing a strong relationship between voter turnout and perceptions of electoral integrity, comes from a recent paper, here, by Pippa Norris, as part of her work with the international Electoral Integrity Project. The data is taken from… Continue reading
Money in Politics: How Far Does the Egalitarian Position Go?
Cross-posted from Balkinization:
Egalitarian arguments in the US for regulating campaign spending almost always stop at regulating money in the context of elections. But why don’t the same arguments also extend to regulating spending in the context of public debate… Continue reading
More on Withdrawal of a Presidential Nominee
I’m posting this two-minute video segment I did on what happens if a presidential nominee withdraws, from the very good website Talks on Law, mostly for the amusement of my friends. This is the first time I’ve worked with a… Continue reading
If a Presidential Nominee Or President Elect Withdraws or Dies
In response to lots of media requests on improbable election scenarios, I’ve laid out in today’s Washington Post/Monkey Cage, here, the existing legal framework and gaps for the four crucial contexts in which a presidential nominee or “President-elect” might… Continue reading
Republican Pressure to Modify the Nomination Process
I suggested in my recent Washington Post piece on the history of the Presidential nomination process, here, that after the fall election there is likely going to be significant pressure to reconsider the post-1960s process that has developed for… Continue reading
Why the North Carolina Redistricting Case is More Consequential than the North Carolina “Right to Vote” Case
Federal courts have now issued two major decisions invalidating North Carolina’s laws regulating the political process — yesterday’s decision on racial redistricting and last week’s decision on the state’s package of changes regarding access to the ballot box. While the… Continue reading
“Voter-ID Laws in Jeopardy As Texas Agrees to Ease Its Rules”
From Greg Stohr, at Bloomberg Politics here:
Under the state’s agreement with the Obama administration and voting-rights advocates, people lacking one of the required IDs will have more options in November. They will now be able to provide voter… Continue reading
New Edition of The Law of Democracy Available
The new, 5th edition of The Law of Democracy: Legal Structure of the Political Process is in print and now available for all the academics, judges, and lawyers who rely on the book. For the first time, we are also… Continue reading
“There’s No Escaping the Top of the Ballot”
At The Atlantic, Michelle Cottle has a nice piece on the difficulty down ballot Republicans are likely to have in separating themselves from Donald Trump (if he proves to be a liability), given how much more nationalized elections have become… Continue reading
Charles Lane Presses Republican Party to Create Superdelegates
While a number of politicians and commentators are pressuring the Democratic Party to eliminate its superdelegates, Charles Lane in today’s Washington Post has a piece pushing the Republican Party to create a cadre of superdelegates as well.
Defending a role… Continue reading
“Two Myths About the Unruly American Primary System”
I published a longish essay with that title today in the Washington Post, at the excellent Monkey Cage blog. Here are a few excerpts:
Many Americans will be surprised to learn that few democracies give primary elections a dominant role… Continue reading