Category Archives: electoral college

No Labels Leader Floats Insane “Contingent Election” Scenario

March 22, 2024, 7:16 amelectoral collegeRick Hasen

Just wow via NYT: No Labels, the group that for months has pledged to run a centrist presidential ticket in the event of a rematch between President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump, is running out of time to… Continue reading

“The Terrifying Legal Election Scenario That Keeps Me Up at Night”

March 17, 2024, 12:11 pmelectoral collegeRick Hasen

Michael Tomasky on a potential 269-269 electoral college tie leading to a contingent election where each state’s U.S. House delegation gets one vote to pick the President.

Fourteenth Amendment federalism over Electoral College federalism in Trump v. Anderson

March 4, 2024, 8:54 amelectoral collegeDerek Muller

This sentence, perhaps more than any other, in my judgment, drives the decision in Trump v. Anderson (and the unanimous consensus of the Supreme Court): Because federal officers “‘owe their existence and functions to the united voice of the whole,… Continue reading

“The President of the Senate, the Original Public Meaning of the Twelfth Amendment, and the Electoral Count Reform Act”

February 21, 2024, 11:56 amelection law and constitutional law, electoral collegeDerek Muller

The Case Western Reserve Law Review has just published my article, “The President of the Senate, the Original Public Meaning of the Twelfth Amendment, and the Electoral Count Reform Act.” Here is the abstract: When Congress convenes under… Continue reading

Near-unanimous Wisconsin Senate advances important bill responding to Electoral Count Reform Act

February 20, 2024, 12:28 pmelectoral collegeDerek Muller

In December 2022, I blogged about how state legislatures needed to take a look at how their existing election codes fit with the Electoral Count Reform Act. In particular, “States should be working backwards from that deadline to determine… Continue reading

On January 6, 2025

February 15, 2024, 6:43 amballot access, electoral collegeDerek Muller

When Congress convenes to count electoral votes on January 6, 2025, it will face intense pressure. If the Supreme Court rejects Colorado’s effort to bar Donald Trump from the primary ballot, its path seems likely to leave the door open… Continue reading

“Here Is One Way to Steal the Presidential Election”

January 22, 2024, 10:18 amelection subversion risk, electoral collegeRick Hasen

Lessig & Seligman NYT oped: What happens when you stress-test America’s system for electing a president? How well does it hold up? After the assault on the nation’s Capitol three years ago, we worked through every strategy we could… Continue reading

“Trump’s campaign guided filing of Michigan’s false electors certificate, emails show”

January 5, 2024, 7:39 amelection subversion risk, electoral collegeRick Hasen

Craig Mauger for the Detroit News: Then-President Donald Trump’s campaign directly orchestrated the filing of a certificate, signed by 16 Michigan Republicans, that falsely claimed he won the state’s 2020 election, according to internal campaign emails obtained by The Detroit… Continue reading

“Exclusive: Recordings describe 2020 Oval Office photo-op where Trump was briefed on fake electors and January 6”

December 13, 2023, 9:52 amelectoral collegeDerek Muller

Marshall Cohen at CNN: Before a group of supportive lawyers entered the Oval Office for a photo-op with then-President Donald Trump in December 2020, they were given a clear instruction, according to one attendee: Don’t get Trump’s hopes up… Continue reading

“Trump campaign recognized legal risks of false electors, still went forward”

December 13, 2023, 6:29 amelectoral collegeDerek Muller

Craig Mauger in the Detroit News: Top advisers within Donald Trump’s campaign were aware of concerns in early December 2020 that criminal charges could result from submitting certificates falsely claiming the Republican won battleground states like Michigan that he… Continue reading

“Less appetite — and opportunity — to serve as fake Trump electors in 2024”

December 11, 2023, 5:25 amelectoral collegeDerek Muller

Excerpt from the Washington Post: Another force will make it harder for electors to do what Trump’s slates did in 2020: The Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022, bipartisan legislation intended to prevent the chaos surrounding the events of… Continue reading

“Small segment of voters will wield outsize power in 2024 presidential race”

December 8, 2023, 3:04 pmelectoral collegeRick Hasen

WaPo article, with the subhed: “The electoral college system empowers a sliver of the U.S. population in a diminishing number of battleground states. And the majority may not even prevail.”

First Circuit affirms dismissal of Section 3 case against Trump on ground that plaintiff lacked standing

November 22, 2023, 11:25 amelectoral collegeDerek Muller

The unanimous opinion in Castro v. Scanlan is here. It’s worth noting the appellate court only reached the standing issue. It did not address the political question doctrine issue, which I noted here that the district court reached. And… Continue reading

“State Implementation of the Electoral Count Reform Act and the Mitigation of Election-Subversion Risk in 2024 and Beyond”

November 16, 2023, 7:18 amelection subversion risk, electoral collegeRick Hasen

Very important piece from Kate Hamilton in the Yale Law Journal Forum: The 2020 election and its aftermath were a shocking warning that election subversion poses a threat to the continued health of American democracy. Unlike voter suppression, which is… Continue reading