Category Archives: electoral college

“In the Messiest Contested Election, One Man Saved the System From Itself”

November 3, 2020, 12:14 pmelectoral collegeRick Hasen

Do yourself a favor and read Franita Tolson in the NYT on the 1876 election and Samuel Randall: In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s election, scholars and political commentators have been busy gaming out doomsday scenarios on the small,… Continue reading

“Failed Elections and the Legislative Selection of Presidential Electors”

November 3, 2020, 10:42 amelectoral collegeRick Hasen

Can’t wait to read this (hopefully not timely) one from Justin Levitt (forthcoming NYU L. Rev.). Here is the abstract: Questions about the state legislative role in determining the identity of presidential electors and electoral slates, and the permissible extent… Continue reading

1888 Political Scientist: “The most complicated bit of governmental machinery which the modern world has to exhibit is that which is employed in the selection of the chief executive officer and his possible substitute for the United States”

November 1, 2020, 10:35 amelectoral collegeRick Hasen

John W. Burgess, writing in the 1888 Political Science Quarterly, recognized that the Electoral Count Act (adopted after the disputed 1876 election) provides unduly complex and contradictory set rules for choosing the president and gave too much power to the… Continue reading

#2DaysOut: “A Ballot Dispute in the Making?” (Derek Muller)

November 1, 2020, 9:57 am#2DaysOut, electoral collegeRick Hasen

The following is a symposium contribution from Derek Muller (Iowa): I’ve been a strong proponent of the view—admittedly, not a view widely shared—that Congress, not courts, ought to be the final place to resolve presidential election disputes. The decision to… Continue reading

“How Likely Is It that Courts Will Select the US President? The Probability of Narrow, Reversible Election Results in the Electoral College versus a National Popular Vote”

October 29, 2020, 7:28 amelectoral collegeRick Hasen

New NBER working paper from Michael Geruso and Dean Spears: Extremely narrow election outcomes—such as could be reversed by rejecting a few thousand ballots—are likely to trigger dispute over the results. Narrow vote tallies may generate recounts and litigation; they… Continue reading

Lessig, Equal Citizens, and HLS Students Team Up for Website and Podcast on Electoral College Issues in the Upcoming Election

October 27, 2020, 7:23 amelectoral collegeRick Hasen

Check it out.

Federal Court Holds Republican Presidential Electors in Minnesota Lack Standing to Challenge Consent Decree Extending Deadline for Receipt of Absentee Ballots

October 11, 2020, 9:25 pmabsentee ballots, electoral collegeRick Hasen

This interesting ruling has some interesting discussions about the working of the electoral college/safe harbor rules.

Fortier and Ornstein: How Faithless Elector Laws and COVID-19 Could Undermine Our Presidential Election

October 5, 2020, 10:41 amElection Meltdown, electoral collegeRick Hasen

The following is a guest post from John Fortier and Norm Ornstein: After 9/11, in the course of our work on continuity of government, we wrote a piece in the Election Law Journal, “If Terrorists Attacked our Presidential… Continue reading

“Will the Popular Vote Decide the Electoral College in 2024?”

October 5, 2020, 7:19 amelectoral collegeRick Hasen

John Koza on the Open Mind podcast.

With News That the President Has Tested Positive for Coronavirus (and He Was in Contact with Joe Biden at the Debate Earlier in the Week), What Happens If a Presidential Candidate Dies or is Incapacitated Before Election Day? A Mess

October 1, 2020, 10:34 pmelectoral collegeRick Hasen

The President and First Lady reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus. As the New York Times notes, “Mr. Trump’s positive test result could pose immediate difficulties for the future of his campaign against former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.,… Continue reading

“Elections experts, law professors, former President of National Association of Secretaries of State urge Congress to pass state vote counting deadline extension to avoid crisis”

October 1, 2020, 1:07 pmelectoral collegeRick Hasen

Release: With just a month to go before the November 3rd election, a group of 40 experts on elections and democracy are imploring Congress to support a bill that would give states more time to tally election results. A… Continue reading

“A State Legislature Cannot Appoint its Preferred Slate of Electors to Override the Will of the People After the Election”

September 16, 2020, 3:25 pmElection Meltdown, electoral collegeRick Hasen

New analysis from the National Task Force on Election Crises.

“The Electoral Count Act & The Process of Electing a President”

September 12, 2020, 12:36 pmElection Meltdown, electoral collegeRick Hasen

The National Task Force on Election Crises has issued this analysis.

“Post-Election Chaos: A Primer”

September 10, 2020, 7:45 amElection Meltdown, electoral collegeRick Hasen

Cass Sunstein has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: With respect to the election of the U.S. President, the U.S. Constitution is vague and full of silences and gaps. When the vote is close, and when people… Continue reading