Category Archives: election subversion risk

I Spoke to NPR’s Fresh Air: “An election law expert weighs in on Trump’s effort to reshape our democracy” (Link to Audio)

September 10, 2025, 10:58 amauthoritarian threats in US, election administration, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Had a great conversation with Tonya Mosley for NPR’s Fresh Air: “Before 2026’s midterms, President Trump wants to ban mail-in ballots and electronic voting machines, and change voting rules. Legal expert Richard Hasen discusses the future of free and fair… Continue reading

“Michigan dismissal highlights the challenges in prosecuting cases against Trump’s 2020 fake electors”

September 10, 2025, 7:43 amchicanery, election subversion risk, electoral collegeRick Hasen

AP: Before the abandoned federal attempt to prosecute Donald Trump for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss, state and local prosecutors brought cases against his fake electors. The term referred to the people who, in several of the… Continue reading

“Trump Administration Quietly Seeks to Build National Voter Roll”

September 9, 2025, 6:50 amauthoritarian threats in US, election subversion riskRick Hasen

NYT: The Justice Department is compiling the largest set of national voter roll data it has ever collected, buttressing an effort by President Trump and his supporters to try to prove long-running, unsubstantiated claims that droves of undocumented immigrants have… Continue reading

“Democrats pick members for new GOP-led committee on Jan. 6 Capitol attack”

September 9, 2025, 6:46 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

WaPo: Democrats named the members of their caucus to serve on a new subcommittee reinvestigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — a Republican-led probe that threatens to reignite tensions over one of the most divisive… Continue reading

Register for Free Sept. 16 Webinar from Safeguarding Democracy Project: “The Risk of Federal Interference in the 2026 Midterm Elections”

September 8, 2025, 7:30 amauthoritarian threats in US, election administration, election subversion riskRick Hasen

The Risk of Federal Interference in the 2026 Midterm Elections Tuesday, September 16, 12:15pm-1:15pm PT, Webinar Register here. Ben Haiman, UVA Center for Public Safety and Justice, Liz Howard, NYU Law Brennan Center for Justice, and Stephen Richer, Ash Center for Democratic Governance… Continue reading

Election Conspiracy Theorist Cleta Mitchell Suggests Trump Could Declare a “National Sovereignty” Crisis and Do an Emergency Federal Takeover of the Midterm Elections (He Can’t and It Would Trigger Massive Protests and the Potential End of American Democracy)

September 5, 2025, 12:00 pmauthoritarian threats in US, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Chilling video: Trump lawyer Cleta Mitchell says Trump may try to declare a “national sovereignty” crisis in 2026 to claim “emergency powers” over elections and override the states— People For the American Way (@peoplefor.bsky.social) 2025-09-05T18:23:54.459Z

Ugh: “Trump’s DOJ seeks voting equipment in Missouri ahead of 2026 election”

September 3, 2025, 3:18 pmauthoritarian threats in US, chicanery, election subversion risk, voting technologyRick Hasen

WaPo: A top official in President Donald Trump’s Justice Department recently sought access to voting equipment used by two Republican clerks in Missouri during the 2020 election, an unusual request from federal officials amid continued efforts by the president to… Continue reading

“Richard Bernstein: The Trump Administration’s Arguments About the National Guard Threaten the 2026 Elections”

September 3, 2025, 1:28 pmauthoritarian threats in US, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Must-read: Yesterday, federal District Judge Charles Breyer ruled that the Trump Administration’s federalization of the National Guard in Los Angeles to assist in immigration law enforcement violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which is 18 U.S.C. section 1385. The Posse Comitatus… Continue reading

“Already Pardoned by Trump, Jan. 6 Rioters Push for Compensation”

September 1, 2025, 9:12 amauthoritarian threats in US, Department of Justice, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Bizarro World continues: The rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, secured a shocking double victory this year. President Trump granted them clemency for their crimes on his first day back in the White House, and in the… Continue reading

“Pa. election conspiracy activist appointed to election integrity role at Department of Homeland Security”

August 26, 2025, 10:31 amelection subversion risk, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

WITF: A Pennsylvania-based activist tied to President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election is now overseeing election security matters for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Heather Honey, of Lebanon County, is serving as the deputy assistant secretary… Continue reading

Bart Gellman: “Trump’s Stunning Power Grab on Elections”

August 24, 2025, 2:57 pmElection Assistance Commission, election subversion risk, UncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT oped: To begin with, the surprise announcement and the sudden, if ambiguous, turnabout suggested once again that Mr. Trump is governing in his second term without advisers who can or even try to help him discipline his impulses. The… Continue reading

I Spoke to the PBS News Hour Weekend About Trump’s Threats to the Integrity of the 2026 Midterm Elections

August 24, 2025, 7:44 amauthoritarian threats in US, election administration, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Watch here:

Bob Bauer Sounds the Alarm: “Donald Trump’s Plan for ‘Honest’ Mid-Term Elections”

August 21, 2025, 12:46 pmauthoritarian threats in US, election administration, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Bob Bauer writes, very much in line with what I wrote in the NYT yesterday: On August 18, Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he would sign another executive order, following one issued in March, to “help… Continue reading

My New One in the NY Times on How States, Courts, and the Public Can Combat the Risk Trump Poses to the 2026 Midterm Elections

August 20, 2025, 7:42 amauthoritarian threats in US, election subversion riskRick Hasen

I have written this guest essay for the NY Times (free gift link). It begins: With Republicans potentially losing their current seven-vote majority in the House in next year’s midterm elections (or, less likely, their six-vote majority in the Senate),… Continue reading

Election Law Blog

The law of politics and the politics of law