From this story, which begins this way: Cancellation of citizenship oath ceremonies and in-person interviews because of coronavirus means hundreds of thousands of people may not naturalize in time for November’s elections. If ceremonies and interviews remain shut down… Continue reading

By my count, about 107,871 absentee ballots came in after April 7th and on or before April 13th. Put another way, this amounts to 6.96 percent of the total votes cast for the percent of absentee ballots that came in… Continue reading

In advance of the WI primaries, most people expected turnout to be significantly lower than normal. In what is perhaps an example of anchoring bias, many journalists continue to write stories referencing the supposedly “low turnout,” as in a NYT… Continue reading

Here is some brief perspective on turnout in the Wisconsin election — Of the voting-age population, 34% cast a ballot in this year’s primary. This is higher than the 31% average for all presidential primaries in WI from 1984 to… Continue reading

I’m very pleased to recognize here that Nate Persily and Rick Valleley have won Guggenheim Fellowships — Nate for his project called Securing a Democratic Digital Future and Rick for Uncle Sam’s Closet: Lesbian and Gay Enfranchisement and the American… Continue reading

From the NYT live feed this morning: As South Korea pressed ahead with its first election since the coronavirus pandemic began, masked voters showed up on Friday at the country’s 3,500 balloting stations. They were required to stand at three-foot… Continue reading

I have put together some numbers and a framework for starting to assess this question (the numbers are taken from the Wisconsin Election Commission’s website today). As of now, it appears that the State managed to send out 12,216 fewer… Continue reading

Marty Lederman has presented a criticism of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Wisconsin election litigation, but, with admirable humility (he puts “I think” in the title of his post), he concedes that he may be overlooking something in arriving… Continue reading

The virus is prompting questions about what would happen if a presumptive presidential nominee or a nominee becomes incapacitated in a variety of circumstances: before the primaries have ended, after that but before the conventions, or after the conventions. I… Continue reading

Over at the Lawfare Blog (which is quickly becoming a go-to site for longer than op-ed length pieces on election law and the virus), I’ve posted this essay, which addresses one particular risk of mail-in voting. If Congress or individual… Continue reading

In this Washington Post piece on how the Canadian system of elections is structured so differently from ours, I particularly enjoyed this line: Contrary to the impulse of the uber-democrat who believes that democracy means chaining each element of the… Continue reading

            In the next few days, the Democratic Party in Nevada and nationally faces an urgent and difficult choice.  In an admirable desire to expand access to the caucuses, four days of early voting for the NV caucuses are scheduled… Continue reading

By my calculation, based on the latest FEC filings, the Democratic presidential candidates have raised already nearly $250 million from small donors in this election cycle. Small donors, defined as those giving less than $200, are listed as “unitemized contributors”… Continue reading

Just in time for the start of caucus/primary season, Ray La Raja and Jonathan Rauch have this substantial essay out from Brookings. Here is the summary and table of contents for the piece: Summary Presidential-nominating contests in both major political… Continue reading