This is a new paper in the Am. Political Science Review from Michael Weaver. Here’s the abstract: After the Civil War, congressional Republicans used sweeping powers to expand and enforce civil rights for African Americans. Though the electoral benefits of… Continue reading

With the confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Jackson to begin tomorrow, the confirmation process itself will once again be in the spotlight. In light of that, I want to call attention again to one of the most detailed, practical set… Continue reading

Yale Law School professors Sam Moyn and David Schleicher have a terrific podcast devoted to discussing new work in legal scholarship. I was pleased to be asked to speak, and be questioned about, my current work on what I call… Continue reading

NYT story re-visists NYT v. Sullivan: The lawyers and First Amendment scholars who have made it their life’s work to defend the well-established but newly threatened constitutional protections for journalists don’t usually root for the media to lose in court.… Continue reading

WRAL.com: Raleigh, N.C. — The North Carolina State Board of Elections on Saturday said unaffiliated voters now represent the largest share of the state’s electorate.The latest weekly update reflects a sizable increase in voters choosing to either switch out of… Continue reading

Washington Post: Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) has spent years preparing to helm the Democratic political operation. Maloney led an investigation into the disappointing 2016 campaign. In late 2018, he ran to become chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee… Continue reading

AP News: Growing suspicion about the security of voting systems has kindled a back-to-the future moment among conservatives in some parts of the U.S.Republican lawmakers in at least six states have introduced legislation that would require all election ballots to… Continue reading

Tierney Sneed at CNN: Former Attorney General William Barr on Friday stood by his widely criticized comments before the 2020 election that mail voting was vulnerable to fraud, even as he condemned former President Donald Trump’s false post-election… Continue reading

I was glad to see the recognition in this Jamel Bouie piece of the important historical work of my former NYU student, Hayward Smith. As Hayward says in the piece quoted here, he first wrote about the independent state legislature… Continue reading

FRom Jessica Huseman at Votebeat: We’re back to exploring the truth about the Electronic Registration Information Center and explaining the important role ERIC has in securing elections. First we looked at why Louisiana seems to have suspended its participation in… Continue reading

From PA Capital Star: The law, known as Act 77, was declared unconstitutional in a 3-2 January decision by the state’s Commonwealth Court, as it ruled on two challenges to the law — one brought by the Republican lawmakers,… Continue reading

This is a deceptively important point. There are some who argue that the VP is required by the Electoral Count Act to refer to Congress any slate of purported electors that has been submitted to Congress. Pence took the position,… Continue reading

From Politico: A federal jury has acquitted two men of all charges in an alleged scheme to use straw donors to funnel nearly $2 million to various political causes including Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid and GOP House candidates… Continue reading

Wisconsin NPR: The Wisconsin Elections Commission is pushing back on a Republican-ordered report released this week that cast doubt on the 2020 election in Wisconsin, saying the review was full of misunderstandings and outright falsehoods.The report includes an assertion by… Continue reading