Category Archives: election administration

Timing and procedural morass hit Cawthorn disqualification challenge

March 16, 2022, 9:32 amelection administration, legislation and legislaturesDerek Muller

After a district court concluded March 4 that a disqualification challenge to Madison Cawthorn’s candidacy in North Carolina could not proceed, the case has been hit with timing issues and procedural complexity. (The district court issued a written order March … Continue reading

“Attorney asks Oklahoma Supreme Court to halt special election to replace Inhofe”

March 11, 2022, 7:02 amelection administrationDerek Muller

Last month, I wondered whether the Seventeenth Amendment allowed Oklahoma to hold a special election for the future vacancy of Senator Jim Inhofe. Now, details of a lawsuit from the Tulsa World: One of Oklahoma’s best-known attorneys is asking… Continue reading

“2020 Was a Banner Year for U.S. Election Administration; MIT’s Election Performance Index shows improvement across the board.”

March 10, 2022, 3:46 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

EPI: Despite widespread claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent or poorly managed, election administration did not just persevere under unexpected and challenging conditions—it improved.The 2020 election was an anomaly in many ways, but the Election Performance Index (EPI) shows… Continue reading

Jerry Goldfeder on Electoral Count Act Reform

In the New York Law Journal at this link: https://www.stroock.com/uploads/JG–NYLJ—2022-02-25.pdf

“What went wrong in Harris County’s primary”

March 5, 2022, 10:22 amelection administrationRick Hasen

Jessica Huseman: Perhaps the theme of this newsletter is “when things change, things also slow down.” It has ever been thus in elections, and it was thus in Harris County this week, as Texas’s largest county faced delays… Continue reading

“New Michigan audit debunks dead voter theory in 2020 election”

March 5, 2022, 10:11 amelection administrationRick Hasen

Detroit News: A report released Friday by Michigan’s Office of the Auditor General quashed a conspiracy theory that a significant number of fraudulent votes were cast on behalf of dead people in the state’s 2020 presidential election.The 67-page document… Continue reading

Susan Greenhalgh and Philip Stark: “Setting the record straight on the security review in the Georgia voting machine lawsuit”

March 4, 2022, 6:55 amelection administration, voting technologyRick Hasen

The following is a guest post from Susan Greenhalgh and Philip Stark: Last month, Election Law Blog highlighted a Votebeat newsletter published January 29 by Jessica Huseman, a response to a story in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The newsletter… Continue reading

“Frustrated Michigan clerks call for election reforms: ‘Now is the time'”

March 1, 2022, 6:35 amelection administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Detroit News: Two organizations that represent hundreds of Michigan clerks called on state lawmakers Monday “to set aside their agendas” and make bipartisan improvements to voting policies ahead of the November statewide election. Mary Clark, president of the… Continue reading

What happens to election law after the Anderson-Burdick framework is (probably) overturned?

February 25, 2022, 10:15 amelection administration, Supreme CourtDerek Muller

If I had to predict, I’d guess that the Anderson-Burdick framework for federal review election laws will be overturned in the next decade. What does election law litigation look like after that? Is that a grim thought for election law… Continue reading

“When vacancies happen” and the Oklahoma Senate special election

February 25, 2022, 7:35 amelection administrationDerek Muller

The Seventeenth Amendment provides, in part, “When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State… Continue reading

“Report: Universities Are Vital to Restoring Public Trust in Election”

February 23, 2022, 8:57 amelection administrationRick Hasen

Release: Today, Columbia World Projects (CWP) issued a new report, “Building Trust: Election Administration and the Role of Higher Education.” The report highlights the need to address the alarming erosion of trust in elections in the United… Continue reading

My New Research: Election Litigation Rates in the U.S. Have Hit an All-Time High: 2020 Rate is 26% Higher Than 2016, But Future Trends Less Certain (Election Law Journal)

February 17, 2022, 7:34 amelection administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

I have written Research Note: Record Election Litigation Rates in the 2020 Election: An Aberration or a Sign of Things to Come? for the Election Law Journal (free access to full article). Here is the abstract: Election litigation rates in… Continue reading

“Election experts sound alarms as costs escalate and funding dwindles”

February 16, 2022, 12:40 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

WaPo: When a global pandemic threatened to throw the 2020 presidential election into chaos, hundreds of millions of dollars flowed to state and local election agencies to ensure they had the resources to conduct a fair and accessible election, ultimately… Continue reading

“They used to just run elections. Now they fight foreign agents.”

February 16, 2022, 6:57 amcheap speech, election administrationRick Hasen

Zach Montellaro for Politico: Voting for the 2022 midterms is already underway, and the nation’s top election officials are caught fighting a two-front war: Battling disinformation stemming from the last election, while simultaneously preparing for the next one.The officials… Continue reading