Category Archives: voting

WaPo op-ed: “What if everyone voted? The case for 100 percent democracy.”

March 23, 2022, 8:59 amvotingDerek Muller

From E.J. Dionne Jr. & Miles Rapoport, based on their new book: The first step toward ending our voting wars is to recognize that every citizen should play a role in shaping our nation’s destiny.In the wake of changes… Continue reading

Adam Laxalt, Senate Candidate, Says He’s Already Gearing Up to Fight Election Fraud

March 22, 2022, 5:28 pmvotingDerek Muller

Nick Corasaniti, Blake Hounshell and Leah Askarinam in the New York Times: Nevadans still have 231 days until they head to the polls in November. But Adam Laxalt, the former attorney general of Nevada and a Republican candidate for… Continue reading

New book details White House friction over voting rights push

March 22, 2022, 5:25 pmvoting, Voting Rights ActDerek Muller

Politico excerpts portions of Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns’s This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future: Harris did ask to lead the administration’s push to shore up federal voting rights. But as the effort stalled… Continue reading

“Iowa Supreme Court to hear challenge from subpoenaed legislators in voting rights case”

March 22, 2022, 8:36 amelection administration, votingDerek Muller

William Morris in the Des Moines Register: Republican legislators facing subpoenas seeking their emails and other documents will get the chance to make the case to the Iowa Supreme Court that their communications should be private.Iowa’s highest court has granted… Continue reading

How to guarantee the right to cast a ballot?

January 12, 2022, 4:05 pmelection subversion risk, NVRA (motor voter), provisional ballots, voter registration, votingNed Foley

I have seen a lot a skepticism lately about relying on courts to protect the equal right of eligible voters to participate in an election by casting a ballot and having it counted accurately. But unless Congress is going to… Continue reading

WaPo “Factchecker” on “Jim Crow 2.0” Senate debate

January 11, 2022, 3:18 amDepartment of Justice, voting, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

Accurately describing itself as a “reader service,” this new Fact Checker analysis carefully details the arguments on both sides and the relevant provisions of the new laws in key states (like Georgia and Texas), including the DOJ and other lawsuits… Continue reading

“The Arbitrariness of Citizenship; It makes sense to expand local voting rights to everyone who lives and pays taxes in a community.”

January 4, 2022, 11:55 amvotingRick Hasen

Rosa O’Hara for Noema.

Georgia’s new voting law drives rejections of absentee ballots way up

November 29, 2021, 2:23 pmvotingabsentee ballotsTabatha Abu El-Haj

Mark Niesse, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Georgia’s Republican legislature tightened absentee ballot access, including by imposing an earlier deadline for requests for absentee ballots, after a record 1.3 million Georgians voted remotely in last year’s presidential election. New data show “Missed… Continue reading

As Federal Options Close, Remember States

November 29, 2021, 7:17 amvoting, Voting Rights ActTabatha Abu El-Haj

With a Supreme Court that is borderline hostile to voting rights and Congress in perpetual gridlock, it is no wonder voters and their advocates are despairing. Still, fade out the polarization noise, and the fact of the matter is that … Continue reading

“New York Moves to Allow 800,000 Noncitizens to Vote in Local Elections”

November 23, 2021, 7:18 amvotingRick Hasen

NYT: New York City lawmakers are poised to allow more than 800,000 New Yorkers who are green card holders or have the legal right to work in the United States to vote in municipal elections and for local ballot initiatives.The… Continue reading

“Kansas Voter Suppression Law Blocked by Court”

November 20, 2021, 4:49 amcourt decisions, votingTabatha Abu El-Haj

Democracy Alerts Federal court grants preliminary injunction in case challenging Kansas’s new voter suppression law. “The lawsuit, filed on behalf of VoteAmerica and Voter Participation Center in June, is challenging House Bill 2332, which restricts nonpartisan out-of-state organizations from providing… Continue reading

Does Low Turnout Matter?

November 16, 2021, 11:25 amvotingTabatha Abu El-Haj

The old consensus was not really. Voters, it was argued, basically reflect the views of non-voters. In recent years, some political scientists are not so sure. Two empirical facts drive the new skepticism. First, despite significant gains in high turnout… Continue reading

“GOP roars back to life in Trump-resistant Pennsylvania suburbs”

November 14, 2021, 7:25 pmpolitical parties, votingTabatha Abu El-Haj

Politico I am skeptical that the wins in Bucks County amount to the GOP roaring back to life in the Pennsylvania suburbs. No one ever seriously discusses turnout. Compare Municipal 2021 with General 2020 and Midterm 2018. We would… Continue reading

Freedom to Vote bill & democracy-protection

September 20, 2021, 1:36 pmelection subversion risk, votingNed Foley

One main point of this new Washington Post column is that some specific provisions in the Senate Democrats’ bill might be both (1) unnecessary to safeguard democracy (even if desirable from a policy perspective) and (2) actually counterproductive to the… Continue reading