Category Archives: Election Meltdown

Bizarre Washington Examiner Article Posits Republican Fear That Democrats Will “Wield Voting Rights Like a Cudgel” After Georgia Primary Election Meltdown

June 12, 2020, 3:47 pmElection Meltdown, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Washington Examiner: Republican insiders in Georgia are warning after a balloting meltdown in Fulton County that Democrats could wield voting rights like a cudgel, galvanizing turnout this fall to defeat President Trump in the traditionally red state.Georgia Republicans blame… Continue reading

Must-Read Nate Persily: “It’s Not Too Late to Save the 2020 Election; Avoiding a debacle for U.S. democracy will require getting as many Americans as possible to vote by mail and ensuring that polling places are safe, convenient and plentiful”

June 12, 2020, 3:43 pmelection administration, Election MeltdownRick Hasen

WSJ Saturday Essay: On Tuesday, citizens in Georgia stood in lines for hours to vote—and some just gave up. The state struggled to handle its primary election, hobbled amid the coronavirus pandemic by a shortage of poll workers and polling… Continue reading

“‘It’s broken’: Fears grow about strength of US voting system”

June 11, 2020, 8:23 pmElection MeltdownRick Hasen

AP: The chaos that plagued Georgia’s primary this week is raising concerns about a potential broader failure of the nation’s patchwork election system that could undermine the November presidential contest, political leaders and elections experts say.With less than five months… Continue reading

The list of COVID-19 election cases

June 11, 2020, 5:34 pmelection administration, Election Meltdown, The Voting Wars, votingJustin Levitt

Updated as of December 23: the post below lists 335 cases in 45 states, DC, and Puerto Rico. AND ANOTHER UPDATE: I’ve joined forces in this enterprise with the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project, and a team led by Zahavah… Continue reading

“Georgia’s Election Mess: Many Problems, Plenty of Blame, Few Solutions for November”

June 10, 2020, 3:33 pmelection administration, Election MeltdownRick Hasen

NYT: Before Georgia’s embattled election officials can fix a voting system that suffered a spectacular collapse, leading to absentee ballots that never got delivered and hourslong waits at polling sites on Tuesday, they must first figure out who… Continue reading

My Appearance on Chris Hayes Show: “How to stop Trump from delegitimizing the 2020 decision: election law expert explains”

June 10, 2020, 8:38 amElection MeltdownRick Hasen

Watch here.

“The Cybersecurity 202: Georgia’s primary debacle should sound alarm bells for November”

June 10, 2020, 8:12 amElection MeltdownRick Hasen

WaPo: Multiple problems plagued voters as they went to the polls yesterday in Georgia’s primary, from hours-long lines, technical disasters and absentee ballots that never arrived.They’re another ominous sign for states and the general election officials trying to run… Continue reading

“In Georgia, primary day snarled by long lines, problems with voting machines — a potential preview of November”

June 10, 2020, 8:08 amelection administration, Election MeltdownRick Hasen

WaPo: The chaos in Georgia offered another example of election troubles as states adjust their procedures in response to the pandemic. The problems could foreshadow significant challenges in November at a time of deepening partisanship around voting, with President Trump… Continue reading

“How a group of scholars hope to avert an election ‘doomsday’ in November; They fear mounting rhetoric about voter fraud and litigation over voting access could put democracy at risk”

June 10, 2020, 8:05 amElection MeltdownRick Hasen

Matthew Brown for the Deseret News: Even before COVID-19 complicated voting this year, Richard Hasen worried about the American public losing confidence in the elections. Mostly, he feared a “doomsday” scenario of public protest against a government voters don’t… Continue reading

“From Long Lines To Frustrated Voters, Georgia Election Plagued By Problems”

June 9, 2020, 8:01 pmelection administration, Election MeltdownRick Hasen

AP: Voters endured heat, pouring rain and waits as long as five hours Tuesday to cast ballots in Georgia, demonstrating a fierce desire to participate in the democratic process while raising questions about the emerging battleground state’s ability to manage… Continue reading

“Voting Rights and Election Integrity at the Time of COVID-19”

June 9, 2020, 4:39 pmElection MeltdownRick Hasen

You can now watch the video of my talk last week with my UCI Law colleague Henry Weinstein as part of UCI Law’s “Covid and the Law” series.

“Election Day 2020 could yield a catastrophic mess”

June 7, 2020, 5:19 pmElection MeltdownRick Hasen

E.J. Dionne in WaPo: All who rightly insist that remedying embedded racism and economic injustice requires both organized protests and election victories must reckon with this possibility: Election Day 2020 could be a catastrophic mess.Whose interest would a chaotic election… Continue reading

Decision Desk HQ, Which Does Election Calling for Vox and Others, Endorses Media Recommendations from Our “Fair Elections During a Crisis” Report

May 27, 2020, 12:43 pmElection MeltdownRick Hasen

Decision Desk: The Covid-19 pandemic has changed how we live our daily lives in so many ways over the last two months. As we’ve seen across the country these changes, great and small, have reached the world of politics… Continue reading

“Six Scenarios for Confusion in Counting the 2020 Ballots: Not Just Scary Campfire Stories Any More”

May 27, 2020, 9:27 amElection Meltdown, electoral collegeRick Hasen

Lou Jacobson for the Cook Political Report: Every four years, political obsessives like to scare themselves like kids around a campfire, sharing stories about weird presidential election outcomes — such as a divergence between the popular and the electoral vote… Continue reading

Election Law Blog

The law of politics and the politics of law