Category Archives: legislation and legislatures

“Nearly a dozen new state laws shift power over elections to partisan entities”

August 13, 2021, 10:32 amelection administration, legislation and legislaturesDerek Muller

ABC News. I think there’s an important part missing in the headline: “shift power over elections from partisan entities to partisan entities.” (At least in most cases.) A law shifting power from the (partisan) Secretary of State to the… Continue reading

“Pelosi says the House will raise the maximum annual pay rate for Capitol Hill aides”

August 13, 2021, 5:18 amlegislation and legislaturesDerek Muller

New York Times: Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Thursday that the House would raise the maximum annual pay rate for Capitol Hill aides, in a long-awaited move intended to help recruit and retain congressional staffers.In a letter to lawmakers,… Continue reading

“No evidence that national conservative group Heritage Action lobbied for Iowa election law, ethics board says”

August 13, 2021, 5:17 amlegislation and legislaturesDerek Muller

Following up on a May report, details at the Des Moines Register: An Iowa ethics board has found no evidence that a national conservative organization illegally lobbied for an election law that cut the amount of time residents have to… Continue reading

“Dems plot last-ditch voting rights push as midterm clock ticks”

August 12, 2021, 5:39 amlegislation and legislatures, Voting Rights ActDerek Muller

Politico: Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are preparing to take one more big swing at voting rights. They may end up hitting their base with a huge letdown.The House will return to Washington later this month to vote on… Continue reading

“Claims of voter suppression in newly enacted state laws don’t all hold up under closer review”

August 10, 2021, 12:36 pmelection administration, legislation and legislatures, votingDerek Muller

Last month here at ELB, I expressed some skepticism about efforts to label some laws as “suppression,” voting restrictions, and the like. I continue that over at The Conversation, here.

“Democrats Reboot Stalled Election-Law Push”

August 7, 2021, 7:15 amlegislation and legislaturesDerek Muller

A couple of details from the Wall Street Journal: Senate Rules Committee Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) met on Thursday with other Democrats including Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) to iron out some remaining sticking points.The Democrats have agreed… Continue reading

“House Democratic Report Documents Discriminatory Voting Cases”

August 6, 2021, 8:49 amlegislation and legislatures, Voting Rights ActDerek Muller

Bloomberg: House Democrats took another step toward considering a key voting rights bill by releasing a report documenting dozens of discriminatory election practices.The move Friday is a prelude to the introduction of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act,… Continue reading

“Senate Dems plot new paths on voting reform, sidestepping filibuster”

August 5, 2021, 2:18 pmelection administration, legislation and legislaturesDerek Muller

Politico details a new path using the Spending Clause instead of the Elections Clause (which has some filibuster-related advantages, too): As the fate of Senate Democrats’ signature ethics and voting reform package remains in limbo, they’re confident they can deliver… Continue reading

“America’s Hidden Crisis of Power and Place”

August 2, 2021, 5:55 pmcampaigns, legislation and legislaturesDerek Muller

From David Fontana in the Washington Post Magazine. Perhaps a little Wendell Berry in our politics! A snippet: Paul Ryan was elected to Congress in 1998 from Janesville, Wis., current population about 64,000. Ryan attended college outside Wisconsin. He… Continue reading

Brennan Center Updates Report

July 22, 2021, 7:53 amelection administration, legislation and legislatures, The Voting Wars, voter id, votingNed Foley

Voting Laws Roundup: July 2021. I saw this just after posting on Politfact’s caution on the need to be nuanced when characterizing these new state laws. To the Brennan Center’s credit, this July update prominently states up front: “The… Continue reading

Nuanced Analysis of New Laws

July 22, 2021, 7:21 amelection administration, legislation and legislatures, The Voting Wars, votingNed Foley

Kudos to Politifact for this careful and detailed explanation of the degree to which the new state laws on voting make it harder to vote in those states. Their analysis makes clear that they considered only the issue of retrogression:… Continue reading

“The next voting rights battleground is Michigan”

July 18, 2021, 6:34 amlegislation and legislatures, referendumDan Tokaji

Vox: Michigan Republicans want to pass a blitz of legislation that restricts the right to vote in the key battleground state — and they have an audacious plan to get their ideas enacted, even though they have to contend… Continue reading

“Postponed Weddings, Stockpiled Insulin and Covid: The Bizarre Life of Texas Democrats in Exile”

July 18, 2021, 5:41 amlegislation and legislatures, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Politico Magazine: [O]ver 50 state House Democrats … fled Texas on Monday to deny Republicans a quorum for a major new elections bill that has stirred backlash: axing pandemic-era practices to expand voting access adopted in a large Democratic-leaning… Continue reading

“Democrats are making headlines on voting rights, but little more to counter restrictive efforts by Republicans”

July 18, 2021, 5:36 amlegislation and legislatures, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Dan Balz: “[U]ntil Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) agree to change the filibuster rules, Democrats are stuck, and the president’s rhetoric is mostly that, a call to action without the prospect of immediate action”