Category Archives: electoral college

The Twelfth Amendment and Electoral Count Reform Act are more robust than public commentary suggests

August 19, 2024, 9:24 amelectoral collegeDerek Muller

Rachel Maddow has a piece in the New York Times on the topic du jour of 2024 election commentary, here about certifying election results. (Other recent pieces in this oeuvre include Reuters and the Guardian.) I’ll just draw from… Continue reading

“Administering Presidential Elections and Counting Electoral Votes After Trump v. Anderson”

August 12, 2024, 10:39 amelectoral college, Supreme CourtDerek Muller

I have recently posted this draft on SSRN. From the abstract: In the landmark case Trump v. Anderson, the Supreme Court unanimously held that states lack the unilateral power to exclude presidential candidates from the ballot on the basis… Continue reading

“Harris may need less of popular vote to win electoral college”

August 10, 2024, 10:59 amelectoral collegeRick Hasen

WaPo: In 2020, Joe Biden won the national popular vote for president by 4.5 percentage points, a seemingly safe margin that should have easily put him in the White House. But under the hood, the presidential race was extremely close.… Continue reading

JD Vance on the Electoral Count Reform Act

August 1, 2024, 7:31 amelectoral collegeDerek Muller

From Reese Gorman at NOTUS: Asked if that means he would go so far as to put Trump’s desires above his constitutional authority — as Pence has said he was asked to do on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump… Continue reading

The Electoral Count Reform Act and related provisions in Trump v. United States

July 2, 2024, 2:38 pmelectoral collegeDerek Muller

While serving as mere background and description in places, the majority opinion offers some statements that, I imagine, lower courts might find useful in the event future disputes arise relating to presidential elections. From the opinion: . . .… Continue reading

Who can sue in federal court to enforce the date of holding presidential elections (and perhaps by extension some provisions of the Electoral Count Reform Act)?

June 20, 2024, 10:28 amelectoral college, Supreme CourtDerek Muller

The Republican National Committee sued Nevada last month in federal court in Nevada in RNC v. Burgess. The complaint alleges, among other things, that Nevada accepts mail ballots received up to three days after Election Day, even without a… Continue reading

A Trump-Rubio ticket is possible, with some Twelfth Amendment wrinkles

May 30, 2024, 12:39 pmelectoral collegeDerek Muller

The New York Times recently focused on the potential vice presidential candidacy for Senator Marco Rubio, the latest in a long string of earned media Apprentice-style articles in outlets discussing the very public, very slow airing of trial balloons of… Continue reading

“Electors who tried to reverse Trump’s 2020 defeat are poised to serve again”

May 23, 2024, 10:30 amelection subversion risk, electoral collegeRick Hasen

WaPo: Republican activists in at least three states where Donald Trump tried to reverse his defeat in 2020 — nearly all of them under criminal indictment for casting electoral votes for him despite his loss — are poised to reprise… Continue reading

New Podcast: Alex Keyssar on why we still have the Electoral College

May 14, 2024, 7:18 amelectoral collegeNew ScholarshipTabatha Abu El-Haj

In a new episode of Democracy Paradox sponsored by the Ash Center, Justin Kempf sat down with Alex Keyssar to discuss his book Why We Still Have the Electoral College?— and what the future holds for this archaic institution.… Continue reading

“The fight for a single electoral vote rages on in Nebraska”

April 11, 2024, 8:09 amelectoral collegeRick Hasen

CNN: Omaha is a blue dot in a sea of Nebraska red, which is precisely why Donald Trump and his allies are furiously fighting to change the state’s system of awarding electoral votes in presidential elections. Even after the Nebraska… Continue reading

“Sources say Trump sought to directly pressure Nebraska state senator over winner-take-all proposal”

April 6, 2024, 2:28 pmelectoral collegeRick Hasen

The Nebraska Examiner reports.

“Despite vote count, Nebraska lawmakers begin debate of winner-take-all election system”

April 4, 2024, 7:23 amelectoral collegeRick Hasen

Lincoln Journal-Star: Nebraska lawmakers briefly started — and then stopped — debate Wednesday on legislation that would replace the state’s unique system for presidential elections with the winner-take-all model deployed in 48 other states. Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar filed an … Continue reading

“Trump and Nebraska governor push to deny Biden a crucial electoral vote”

April 3, 2024, 7:28 amelectoral collegeRick Hasen

Dave Weigel for Semafor: Donald Trump and Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen endorsed legislation that would take Omaha’s potentially decisive electoral vote out of play for Democrats, hours after conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s Tuesday X post suggesting it. In just 200… Continue reading