Ben Jacobs: On Thursday, Democrats in the House passed a bill on a straight party-line vote that would carve almost all of what’s now Washington, D.C., out of the federal district and create a state called Washington, Douglass Commonwealth. (To … Continue reading
Category Archives: Uncategorized
BuzzFeed News: Last Thursday, BuzzFeed News revealed that an internal Facebook report concluded that the company had failed to prevent the “Stop the Steal” movement from using its platform to subvert the election, encourage violence, and help incite the Jan. 6 attempted … Continue reading
I recently spoke with Georgetown SALPAL Executive Director Meryl Chertoff. Watch. … Continue reading
Michael Wines for the NYT: Almost half a year after the election Mr. Trump lost, the promised audit has become a snipe hunt for skulduggery that has spanned a court battle, death threats and calls to arrest the elected leadership … Continue reading
Register. … Continue reading
Watch the episode or read the transcript. I talked about my recent NY Times oped on election subversion. … Continue reading
CNN: An anti-Trump conservative group is launching an effort to track and evaluate whether Republicans in Congress, in the group’s view, have acted to either undermine or uphold democracy and democratic values and what role, if any, they played in … Continue reading
NYT: After Donald J. Trump lost the election and was impeached for his role in the Capitol riot, democracy preservation groups pointed with urgency to what they called a last, best chance to address the holes in the Constitution exposed by his … Continue reading
The Montana Free Press reports. … Continue reading
Reid Wilson: The chairman of the top outside group dedicated to electing Republican attorneys general has resigned his position in the wake of a show of force by rivals from other states, months after it supported a rally with then-President … Continue reading
As part of my identification of four political reforms that might help mitigate the most extreme forces in our current politics, I have argued that redistricters (whether independent commissions or legislatures) should strive to create competitive districts, rather than safe … Continue reading
The New York Times has a good explainer, with good visualization aids, that explains how RCV will work in our June primaries for mayor. I wanted to clarify one point of potential confusion. The story says: In New York’s primary, … Continue reading
New Brennan Center report. … Continue reading
WaPo: As the battle over a new Georgia law imposing identification requirements for mail ballots and other voting limits raged this month, Republicans in Texas knew they would be next — and acted quickly to try to head off the … Continue reading
AJC: Georgia voters are split along party lines over the state’s new election law, with a divided majority supporting drop box limits, absentee ballot ID requirements and shorter deadlines to request absentee ballots, according to a University of Georgia poll released … Continue reading
NYT: This G.O.P. resistance to certain voting legislation reflects an awkward and delicate dance within the party: As state lawmakers loyal to former President Donald J. Trump try to please him and his supporters by enacting new voting limits across … Continue reading
CNN: Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske‘s office told the state Republican Party on Wednesday that an investigation had found no “evidentiary support” for its allegations of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.”And while the NVGOP raises policy concerns about … Continue reading
This was a great discussion: … Continue reading
Oklahoma just became the first state to release draft district maps for the next decade. These maps are notable in that they use American Community Survey data — not Census data — to equalize population. The maps were also released … Continue reading
A great lineup and set of topics for this seminar. Day 1 is on the Presidency and Day 2 is on voting rights, race, and election adminstration. Glad to be participating in Day 2. Free registration required for zoom log-in. … Continue reading
KTVH: Republican governor Greg Gianforte on Monday signed two bills that eliminate voter-registration on Election Day in Montana and tighten ID requirements for voting and voter-registration.Gianforte, accompanied by bill sponsors and Republican Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, who supported the … Continue reading
Watch here. … Continue reading
NYT: A major coalition of Black faith leaders in Georgia, representing more than 1,000 churches in the state, will call on Tuesday for a boycott of Home Depot, arguing that the company has abdicated its responsibility as a good corporate … Continue reading
NYT: A dozen megadonors and their spouses contributed a combined $3.4 billion to federal candidates and political groups since 2009, accounting for nearly one out of every 13 dollars raised, according to a new report.The report, produced by Issue One, a … Continue reading
Gerald Seib for the WSJ: But if what business leaders are doing in the political arena is pretty obvious, why they’re stepping into that arena is less clear.In part, this business activism is simply a sign of the times, and … Continue reading
McClatchy: North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooperand Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have helped organize a bipartisan letter calling on businesses to speak out against a flurry of bills introduced across the country that would restrict voting access.The open letter, obtained by … Continue reading
Great news for our country about co-blogger Justin Levitt: LMU Loyola Law School Professor Justin Levitt, a nationally recognized scholar of constitutional law and the law of democracy, has been appointed White House Senior Policy Advisor for Democracy and Voting Rights by … Continue reading
Rick Hasen linked to this story already, but I wanted to add some additional excerpts from political insiders. These excerpts bolster the concerns I’ve expressed for some time now about small-donor money fueling the more extremist forces in politics: “The … Continue reading
Roll Call: Some of America’s most prominent corporations infuriated Republicans in Congress earlier this month when they protested a Georgia law setting state voting rules. The longtime alliance between the GOP and business seemed on the verge of cracking up. But … Continue reading
Helen Air: The Montana Senate voted down a bill on Wednesday that would have restricted absentee ballot collection in Montana, with some Republicans joining Democrats who opposed the measure as creating an unnecessary barrier for mail-in voting.House Bill 406 sought to outlaw a … Continue reading
He’s right that President Biden and other Democrats have overstated the suppressive effects of the law, but he understates many other aspects of the law, which will make it harder for some people to vote. … Continue reading
AP: The nation’s next big voting battle is underway in Texas, where Republicans are trying to outlaw 24-hour polling places and drive-thru voting as options, and to make it a crime for elections officials to mail unsolicited absentee ballot applications.All … Continue reading
Electionline: While the 2020 election may have been the most secure election in our nation’s history, mis/disinformation leading up to November 3, 2020 and most certainly in the days and weeks that followed has plagued elections officials.“Election officials continue to face an … Continue reading
Tierney Sneed for TPM: As the global pandemic required election officials to drastically rethink how voting would work in 2020, philanthropic groups stepped up and contributed millions of dollars that paid for much of the changes needed to election infrastructure. … Continue reading
It’s well-known that one of the issues to keep in mind about public-financing of elections in the United States — whether traditional forms of public financing or small-donor matching funds approaches to public financing — that there is still likely … Continue reading
Looking forward to participating in another “America at a Crossroads” event. Registration required. … Continue reading
NYT: Amazon, BlackRock, Google, Warren Buffett and hundreds of other companies and executives signed on to a new statement released on Wednesday opposing “any discriminatory legislation” that would make it harder for people to vote.It was the biggest show of … Continue reading
New at 538. … Continue reading
Larry Norden and Gowri Ramachandran for Slate. … Continue reading
Steven Rosenfeld: National disability rights organizations are urging the Senate to revise the massive House-passed election reform bill to allow an internet-based voting option for their constituents, who represent one-sixth of the national electorate, and to recognize online voting as a federally … Continue reading
Salon reports. … Continue reading
April 13, 2021 | 2:00 PM EST Join Election Law Journal for an exciting panel discussion led by Editor-in-Chief David Canon and featuring the nation’s leading experts on election administration and election law. This free event will delve into the critical issue of how … Continue reading
Ray La Raja is one of the leading political scientists who writes on campaign finance issues and political polarization. With his co-author, Zach Albert, he has a new working paper that examines small-donor funding patterns for moderate and extreme candidates … Continue reading
April 14 event: The U.S. has an outdated election system that leaves Americans unrepresented while the country faces a polarization crisis. Most countries have chosen an electoral system very different to the one used in national elections in the United … Continue reading
NYT: As corporate America continues to push back against a wave of restrictive voting laws under discussion across the United States, Big Law is joining the fight.A coalition of 60 major law firms has come together “to challenge voter suppression legislation … Continue reading
Just ran across this story on the 12 most gerrymandered House districts, according to some experts The Fulcrum surveyed in 2019. Here is the comment on this district, OH 9, from Jason Fierman, founder and managing director of The Redistrict … Continue reading
Axios: Federal regulators are probing financial reporting discrepancies stemming from an effort to funnel $75 million through state Republican parties to the national GOP effort to reelect Donald Trump, Axios has learned.Why it matters: In comments to Axios and filings with … Continue reading
[Bumping to the top] On January 21, I announced a slowdown at ELB, as I finished a book project, worked on the ALI Torts: Remedies project, and undertook my courses with 200 students this semester. I am now considering the … Continue reading
WaPo: The fast-moving drama reveals just how powerful and combustible the issue of voting has become in U.S. politics — and how fraught it appears to be for Republicans contending with the legacy of Trump’s attacks on the 2020 election. … Continue reading
President Biden’s Commission on the Supreme Court includes several academic figures with ties to the election-law field, including Guy-Uriel Charles, Michael Kang, Heather Gerken, Bertrall Ross, and me, as well as the Commission’s Co-Chair, Bob Bauer. It’s a terrific group … Continue reading