Category Archives: election administration

Sixth Circuit, in Troubling Decision, Reverses District Court Decision Requiring Ohio to Accept Electronic Signatures for Initiative Petitions

May 26, 2020, 11:42 amballot access, direct democracy, election administrationRick Hasen

You can find the per curiam opinion of the three-judge panel here. This opinion is troubling, and fits into a larger pattern of the court not protecting direct democracy during the pandemic. Indeed, I have this forthcoming piece in… Continue reading

Federal District Court in South Carolina Holds It Unconstitutional to Apply Witness Requirement to Absentee Ballots for June Primary in Light of COVID; Rejects Motion to Extend Deadline for Receipt of Absentee Ballots Postmarked by Election Day

May 25, 2020, 3:31 pmabsentee ballots, election administrationRick Hasen

You can find the district court’s opinion at this link. On the witness requirement, the district court found that South Carolina does not use the witness requirement to ferret out voter fraud and in any case there is virtually nothing… Continue reading

“Direct Democracy Denied: The Right to Initiative in a Pandemic”

May 22, 2020, 5:47 pmdirect democracy, election administrationRick Hasen

I have posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, University of Chicago Law Review Online). Here is the abstract: Putting aside the Supreme Court’s controversial decision in Republican National Committee v. Democratic National Committee, the case over extending the date for… Continue reading

“Want to know who won the presidential race on election night? Get ready to wait.”

May 22, 2020, 6:38 amelection administrationRick Hasen

Jonathan Lai for Philly Inquirer: It’s a familiar election night routine: Polls close, and everyone wants to know who won — immediately. Every minute matters for Americans anxiously awaiting the results. News organizations race to meet the demand by using… Continue reading

“Election in a pandemic: Bipartisan election bill promised as others fight over NC’s ballot rules”

May 21, 2020, 3:07 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

WRAL: House leaders are close to filing a bill, with bipartisan support, changing state election rules because of the pandemic.The measure has most of what the State Board of Elections asked for two months ago when it rolled out… Continue reading

“Professor Explores Ways To Have A Fair Election In November”

May 21, 2020, 3:05 pmelection administration, Election MeltdownRick Hasen

I talked to KJZZ about our Fair Elections During a Crisis report.

“Federal judge orders Ohio to allow state issue campaigns to collect electronic petition signatures”

May 21, 2020, 6:45 amcampaigns, election administrationRick Hasen

Cleveland.com: A federal judge in Cincinnati has ordered Ohio officials to allow state issue campaigns to collect the signatures needed to make the ballot electronically, granting a request from backers of two campaigns targeting the November election.Ohioans for Raising the… Continue reading

“Ohio Readies for the Covid-Russia-Trump Election”

May 21, 2020, 6:39 amelection administrationRick Hasen

Frank Wilkinson for Bloomberg View: The state’s 88 county boards of election are all bipartisan, consisting of two Republicans and two Democrats, limiting the scope of partisan temptation. Its chief election officer is Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, an… Continue reading

“20 for 20: 20 Ways to Protect the 2020 Presidential Election”

May 20, 2020, 9:08 amelection administrationRick Hasen

Release: The Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD) at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) today released 20 for 20: 20 Ways to Protect the 2020 Presidential Election. In this report, ASD’s… Continue reading

Breaking: Federal District Court, in Sweeping Opinion, Holds That Texas Must Allow Voters Who Wish to Vote by Mail to Do So In Light of COVID, But The Opinion is Vulnerable to Reversal by 5th Circuit

May 19, 2020, 2:59 pmelection administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

In a sweeping opinion complete with lofty language and an odd choice of using Appendices, a federal district court has held that it would be unconstitutional to bar Texas voters who lack immunity from COVID-19 and wish to vote by… Continue reading

New NBER Paper Shows Higher Rates of COVID-19 Among Wisconsin Counties Using More In-Person Voting Compared to Vote By Mail in April 7 Primary

May 19, 2020, 12:52 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

New NBER paper from Chad D. Cotti, Bryan Engelhardt, Joshua Foster, Erik T. Nesson, and Paul S. Niekamp: On April 7, 2020, Wisconsin held a major election for state positions and presidential preferences for both major parties. News reports showed… Continue reading

“How battleground states are preparing for the pandemic election’s massive increase in voting by mail”

May 19, 2020, 12:44 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

Politifact reports.

May 21 BPC Event: “The Challenges of Counting the Vote in 2020”

May 19, 2020, 12:39 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

Details: Election Day does not end on the first Tuesday after the second Monday in November. Election administrators across the country must count and reconcile vote totals across all methods of voting—early, in-person on Election Day, and absentee. The… Continue reading

My New Draft Article: “Three Pathologies of American Voting Rights Illuminated by the COVID-19 Pandemic, and How to Treat and Cure Them”

May 19, 2020, 7:07 amelection administration, voting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I have posted this draft on SSRN, which is a work in progress aimed at a moving target. Comments welcome. Here is the abstract: The COVID-19 global pandemic, which already has claimed approximately 90,000 lives in the United States as… Continue reading

Election Law Blog

The law of politics and the politics of law