Category Archives: Election Meltdown

“As Voting Ends, Battle Intensifies Over Which Ballots Will Count”

November 2, 2020, 4:35 pmElection Meltdown, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

NYT: With the election coming to a close, the Trump and Biden campaigns, voting rights organizations and conservative groups are raising money and dispatching armies of lawyers for what could become a state-by-state, county-by-county legal battle over which ballots will… Continue reading

Eric Holder and Michael Mukasey: “If you can’t think of anything worse than the other side winning, imagine this”

November 2, 2020, 4:06 pmElection MeltdownRick Hasen

WaPo oped: Each of us served as attorney general of the United States, one for a Democratic president, the other for a Republican. Over the years, in the course of disputing matters of law and policy, each of us… Continue reading

Report Card for Election Administrators, Congress, Media, Social Media and Others in Handling “Fair Elections During a Crisis”

November 2, 2020, 12:17 pmElection MeltdownRick Hasen

When I was writing my book, Election Meltdown, I recognized that although there are decent medium- and long-term ways to improve how our elections are run and bolster voter confidence in the legitimacy of our election system, short term… Continue reading

The Media’s Big Test Comes Election Night: With Huge Swings in Results Possible, Including a Possible 21-Point Swing in Pennsylvania from Trump +16 to Biden +5, The Message About Early Returns Must Be “Too Early to Call” Not That One Candidate is Leading in Early Returns

November 2, 2020, 11:23 amElection MeltdownRick Hasen

The pandemic has drastically shifted many people to voting by mail, but President Trump’s statements against voting by mail has created a partisan divide: more Democrats and independents are voting by mail and more Republicans are voting in person. Depending… Continue reading

Barton Gellman Goes to the Very Dark Place in Contemplating Election Meltdowns

November 2, 2020, 11:02 amElection MeltdownRick Hasen

His Atlantic piece is called “How Trump Could Attempt a Coup”: In public, Biden and his senior advisers profess full confidence in the electoral system to work as it always has. Every vote will be counted, they say, and the… Continue reading

I Was on PBS Talking to Ian Bremmer for GZero World About Our Current Election Mess and What It Will Take to Get to the Other Side (Video)

November 2, 2020, 7:09 amElection MeltdownRick Hasen

You can watch here.

#2DaysOut: “Reflections from Philadelphia” (Tabatha Abu el-Haj)

November 1, 2020, 10:04 am#2DaysOut, Election MeltdownRick Hasen

The following is a symposium contribution from Tabatha Abu el-Haj (Drexel): Let us hope that the likelihood that the election will turn on Pennsylvania is indeed low. Reputable state polling has consistently favored Joe Biden by small but significant… Continue reading

Pildes and Hasen CNN Oped: “Out Biggest Election Day Concern”

November 1, 2020, 10:01 am#2DaysOut, Election MeltdownRick Hasen

Rick Pildes and I have written this oped for CNN Opinion. It begins: Of all the concerns surrounding Election Day, one of the most important has received almost no attention.As law professors focused on election law and the law of… Continue reading

GZERO Podcast: “Podcast: What could go wrong in the US Election? Rick Hasen on nightmare scenarios and challenges”

October 31, 2020, 3:05 pmElection MeltdownRick Hasen

Good conversation with Ian Bremmer.

Must-read Ginsberg and Bauer: “Trust our electoral system. It’s built to handle challenges like this.”

October 30, 2020, 4:55 pmElection MeltdownRick Hasen

WaPo oped: We are members of different parties, but we share a commitment to the health and integrity of our voting system. Based on our time leading the Presidential Commission on Election Administration and each of our four decades of… Continue reading

I Talked to the LA Review of Books About My Book, Election Meltdown and Our Current Mess

October 30, 2020, 8:23 amElection MeltdownRick Hasen

You can watch the interview here.

“So, Russia, You Want to Mess With Our Voting Machines? The United States should threaten to retaliate — and I’m not talking about economic sanctions or legal indictments.”

October 29, 2020, 2:47 pmElection MeltdownRick Hasen

Tim Wu for NYT Opinion. I made the same point in Election Meltdown. An attack on our election infrastructure or power grid on Election Day should be seen as an act of war and declared that in advance by the… Continue reading

“How Likely is an Election Meltdown? The Importance of Down-Ballot Races”

October 28, 2020, 2:16 pmElection MeltdownRick Hasen

Stephen Griffin at Balkinization.

“Kavanaugh’s Opinion in Wisconsin Voting Case Raises Alarms Among Democrats”

October 28, 2020, 8:50 amElection Meltdown, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

NYT: The Supreme Court decision on Monday barring the counting of mail-in ballots in Wisconsin that arrive after Election Day was not a surprise for many Democrats, who had pressed for it but expected to lose.But a concurring opinion… Continue reading

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The law of politics and the politics of law