Though this blog usually focuses only on U.S. issues, I wanted to flag a story in today’s Wall Street Journal that might provoke the interest of many readers (since the WSJ is behind a paywall, see here).  In Bangladesh,… Continue reading

How many books thank both Barack Obama and John Yoo?  I know of one — and it might well be the only one:  The Law of Democracy:  Legal Structure of the Political Process.  Back in the mid-1990s, when we were… Continue reading

As the Department of Justice (DOJ) and other litigants begin to turn to Section 3 to seek to put specific jurisdictions under judicial preclearance based on recent judicial findings of intentional discrimination, it’s important to note that Section 3’s text… Continue reading

I had not read in many years the discussion in Buckley upholding the aggregate contributions cap now at issue in the McCutcheon case.  Turns out the entire discussion in Buckley’s otherwise massive opinion is one paragraph long.  That makes it… Continue reading

One remarkable feature of the American Civil War is that in its midst we nonetheless held regularly scheduled elections.  And as is well-known, in the 1862 mid-term election, President Lincoln and the Republican Party suffered devastating losses in the U.S.… Continue reading

The secret ballot makes vote buying more difficult:  how can the buyer be sure the voter actually votes for the candidate he has been paid to support?  Out of Kentucky, here is the description from yesterday’s Sixth Circuit opinion (see… Continue reading

My answer is:  of course not.  But if you look at polling data, you might answer yes.  For they certainly appear to be the most polarizing presidents in decades.  That is, they do polarize citizens by the latter’s partisan affiliations… Continue reading

In the traditional view, the unique American system of diffusing political power across the House, Senate, and Presidency creates an exceptional structure of checks and balances.  In Madison's vision, each of these institutions would have “a will of its own”… Continue reading

As mentioned in a prior post, a lot of good discussion came out of the recent Brookings conference on the aftermath of the Court’s decision on the Voting Rights Act.  With respect to the prospects of any kind of… Continue reading

For the past several decades, E. Mark Braden (here) has been one of the leading redistricting lawyers in the country working on the Republican side.  He has successfully argued in the redistricting area before the U.S. Supreme Court… Continue reading

There have always been two ways that areas could be put under the obligation to pre-clear their voting changes.  The major way was through the formula set by statute, Section 4, that the Court has now struck down.  The second… Continue reading

Justice Kennedy’s pathbreaking opinion mixes structural constitutional principles – federalism – with individual rights principles – equal protection/ due process – into a unique blend that leads to Section 3 of DOMA being unconstitutional.  Why this mixed blend?  Why not… Continue reading

The National Chamber of Black Commerce.  See here.  Are there other amici on opposite sides of these cases?

Australia established the secret ballot (initially called in the U.S. “the Australian ballot”) and was one of the first countries to enact universal suffrage.  Australia also established mandatory voting nationwide in 1924.  While there has been some writing on how… Continue reading