Via email: On the heels of new indictments of Russians for hacking the 2016 election, former cybersecurity officials are warning that the nation’s “foundation for fair and just elections” — the Census — could be ripe for hacking. Despite repeated calls … Continue reading
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Vik Amar for Justia: Among the legal stumbling blocks currently being talked about is the California Constitution’s vexing distinction that I analyzed in detail (in the two postings linked above) between so-called “amendments” to and “revisions” of the document. I continue to … Continue reading
As Dan mentioned, the League of Women Voters and Common Cause each filed a brief yesterday explaining how Gill v. Whitford affects the North Carolina partisan gerrymandering case. I wanted to flag the litigants’ subtly different (but complementary) ways of establishing standing. The … Continue reading
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 whether felons would … Continue reading
Jeff Wice writes. … Continue reading
After Monday’s SCOTUS term-in-review event at UCI Law, I’m taking a vacation. I might put up one post on Trump’s nominee. The great Dan Tokaji will be guest blogging June 9-15. Please direct any pitches or ELB inquiries to him. … Continue reading
Valentin Vandendaele has this post at the Leiden Law Blog. … Continue reading
WaPo: A Senate panel investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election released Tuesday a written summary of its determination that the U.S. intelligence community correctly concluded Moscow sought to help Donald Trump win. The Senate Intelligence Committee’s report affirms conclusions that … Continue reading
Fred Wertheimer oped in The Hill. … Continue reading
The KC Star reports. … Continue reading
An opinion essay in today’s WSJ, titled If Faith in Democracy Ebbs, Danger Rises, by Gerald F. Seib, generally discusses the loss of trust across the political spectrum in the political process. The piece includes these chilling lines, based on … Continue reading
Sam Levine reports for HuffPo. … Continue reading
There’s a lengthy interview on the partisan gerrymandering cases with Professor Bruce Cain, in Pacific Standard. This part in particular jumped out at me: Why was the efficiency gap promoted by the plaintiffs in Gill, and in the press lately, … Continue reading
Politico MagazIne has assessments of Justice Kennedy from “17 legal thinkers” at this link. Here is an excerpt from mine: The realization of human dignity and the importance of value pluralism are the themes that run most deeply to me … Continue reading
WaPo reports. … Continue reading
This article appears in Pensions & Investment. … Continue reading
I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: For Anthony Kennedy, America’s most powerful jurist, this term has brought unexpected and surprising expressions of powerlessness. After Tuesday’s ruling in the Trump travel ban case, it’s starting to feel like the … Continue reading
WRAL: In his largest set of vetoes to date, Gov. Roy Cooper rejected seven bills late Monday, including one changing early voting schedules and a second that would insulate hog farm operators from nuisance lawsuits filed by neighbors. Lawmakers are … Continue reading
Joan Biskupic analysis for CNN. … Continue reading
Howard’s links.. … Continue reading
David Leonardt for NYT Opinion. … Continue reading
This event at Cato on June 28 should be good: Featuring Bradley Smith, Chairman and Founder, Institute for Free Speech and Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Professor of Law at Capital University Law School, Capital University; Lawrence Noble, former General Counsel, … Continue reading
Opinion here. [This post will be updated.] … Continue reading
This is some brazen stuff: We will be issuing a press release shortly on @NCSBE decision to remove 3 of our candidates form the ballot after they legally filed. Expect legal action to be taken accordingly. #ncpol — ConstitutionPartyNC (@ConstituPartyNC) … Continue reading
Sam Levine for HuffPo: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross contradicted the Trump administration’s justification for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census, revealing for the first time Thursday that he began to consider the adding the question even before the … Continue reading
Oh my. Not good. UPDATE: See the follow up post, Lee Goodman: “I did not approve or authorize the envelope or its identification of me as [FEC] ‘Chairman.’” … Continue reading
AP: Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach unsuccessfully sought a governor’s pardon for a corporate campaign donor’s vice president whose crime, police said, involved threatening a cab driver by putting a gun to his head. Kobach, a Republican and leading … Continue reading
I mentioned in my post the other day that it shouldn’t be very difficult to satisfy Whitford’s new standing requirements—at least for most plaintiffs in most districts. Cracking and packing are ubiquitous in any district map where significant vote dilution … Continue reading
That’s the title for the piece I was asked to contribute to the SCOTUSblog Symposium on the partisan gerrymandering cases. Here is the piece, and here is an excerpt: There is yet another constitutional provision, not at issue in Gill, … Continue reading
New report from the Center for Political Accountability. … Continue reading
Wichita Eagle: Kobach’s office said he will appeal the ruling. “Judge Robinson is the first judge in the country to come to the extreme conclusion that requiring a voter to prove his citizenship is unconstitutional. Her conclusion is incorrect, and … Continue reading
My New York Times op-ed on today’s redistricting decisions is now available here (as most readers know, the NYT chooses its own title for these). Here are a couple excerpts: Among major democracies, only in the United States are self-interested … Continue reading
Read the opinion in LULAC v. EAA. … Continue reading
Josh Douglas for CNN Opinion. … Continue reading
Joey Fishkin: If you read Justice Kennedy’s opinion in Vieth in 2004 together with the Court’s opinions this morning in Gill v. Whitford and Benisek, at some point it begins to become apparent that although everyone on both sides of the sharply pitched debate about … Continue reading
The Court’s decision today holding that the plaintiffs in Gill v. Whitford have not proven their standing is disappointing. I’ll identify what I think are the weaknesses in the Court’s reasoning in a subsequent post. Here, though, I want to … Continue reading
The following announcement came via email: Barriers at the Ballot Box: Protecting or Limiting the Core of the American Identity? The right to vote for a representative government is at the core of the American identity. However, even … Continue reading
SCOTUS dismisses partisan gerrymandering case Gill for lack of standing: https://t.co/ro7DiQlmuY See earlier post: https://t.co/Kzn6RRTKXK After the Maryland Redistricting Argument at the Supreme Court, Will the Effort to Rein In Partisan Gerrymandering End with a Whimper? — Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) … Continue reading
Looks like London Breed, the candidate who ranked first on a plurality of ballots in the first round of SF’s ranked-choice election, is the new mayor of SF. This despite earlier reports that suggested the candidate who initially ranked second, … Continue reading
This would be a big deal, IF the FEC were a functioning agency with Commissioners who would actually enforce the law. … Continue reading
Last night I flagged the revision/amendment issue as a major obstacle to 3-Californias going forward, but Bob Wolfe sees a more fundamental problem: At first glance, I thought the initiative is unconstitutional because it “contemplates such a far-reaching change in … Continue reading
Mike Alvarez, Thad Hall, and Ines Levin have posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, American Politics Research). Here is the abstract: How do voters make decisions in low-information contests? Although some research has looked at low-information voter decision-making, scant research has … Continue reading
LAT: California’s 168-year run as a single entity, hugging the continent’s edge for hundreds of miles and sprawling east across mountains and desert, could come to an end next year — as a controversial plan to split the Golden State … Continue reading
Statehouse News reports. … Continue reading
Surprised to learn that? I know I was. I discovered that from Justin Levitt’s blog post, here, which says: This is not a new piece of voter suppression devised by current elections officials: Ohio put the process in place 24 … Continue reading
The Press Herald reports: Gov. Paul LePage announced he may not certify the results from a historic vote Tuesday because he is opposed to a new way of voting. Tuesday is the first time in Maine where voters statewide will … Continue reading
Jennifer Rubin column for WaPo: President Trump tweeted triumphantly on Monday, “Just won big Supreme Court decision on Voting! Great News!” The great news in his book is a 5-4 decision allowing Ohio to remove people from the voting rolls … Continue reading
Union-Leader: A long-running court dispute over a controversial election reform law just got longer with the presiding judge deciding Friday to disqualify himself due to a close, personal relationship with one of the state’s lawyers. The ruling throws yet another … Continue reading