NYT: Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s campaign is establishing a major new legal operation, bringing in two former solicitors general and hundreds of lawyers in what the campaign billed as the largest election protection program in presidential campaign history.Legal battles are … Continue reading
Category Archives: election law biz
Very much looking forward to being able to speak on issues of election law as the election season kicks into high gear, and excited to work with these terrific colleagues. This fall, I’ll still be at UCI Law working on … Continue reading
Scoop from Politico Playbook: NOTE FROM LONGTIME REPUBLICAN ELECTION LAWYER BEN GINSBERG: “I am retiring today from Jones Day, a truly special place I’ve been fortunate to have been a part of for the past six years. It’s been a wonderful … Continue reading
…is now available at this link. … Continue reading
Justin here. I’m tracking the litigation over election issues related to COVID-19 … and the list of cases just hit 200. 202, actually. The number in each state isn’t necessarily a good indication of the contentiousness of the issues: any … Continue reading
NYT: Kansas Republicans on Tuesday soundly rejected the Senate bid of Kris W. Kobach, a polarizing figure in state politics and a staunch ally of President Trump’s, choosing instead to nominate a conservative congressman from rural Kansas who was the preferred … Continue reading
WRAL: A Republican lawmaker who played a prominent role in North Carolina’s redistricting process announced Friday that he will not seek reelection this fall and will instead retire from his post at the end of the year.Citing a “great personal … Continue reading
Announcement: The Election Law Program at William & Mary Law School seeks a full-time Program Manager. The Program Manager will be responsible for implementing a grant ELP has received to expand the resources it provides judges on state election codes, including its … Continue reading
Here’s my yearly roundup of election law academic hires, promotions moves, visits, accolades: Tabatha Abu el-Haj was promoted to full professor at Drexel Law. Wilfred Codrington began as an assistant Professor at Brooklyn Law School. Travis Crum began as an … Continue reading
Allen Dickerson of the Institute for Free Speech is the president's new @fec nominee, per new announcement from the WH. The president's only other @fec nominee, Trey Trainor, was nominated in September 2017 and confirmed in May 2020. pic.twitter.com/cJOCUk5oqt— Carrie … Continue reading
NYT profiles William Consovoy. That’s a weirdly neutral NYT title given what Consovoy does, which is to litigate to make it harder for people to register and to vote. … Continue reading
Awarded a Carnegie Fellowship. “For his Carnegie project, Dr. Gronke will focus on the beliefs and actions of 10,000 local election officials and explore the role these “stewards of democracy” might play in restoring public confidence in our elections and, by … Continue reading
Sad news. … Continue reading
Teddy Schleifer for ReCode: A voting rights group called Vote.org seems like precisely the type of nonprofit that should thrive in 2020, with fans from Barack Obama to Taylor Swift and a URL that can’t be beat.Its efforts to expand vote-by-mail — during an … Continue reading
Sad news: Abigail Thernstrom, a political scientist who was steeped in left-wing politics from childhood but became an influential conservative voice on racial equality, voting rights and education, died April 10 at a hospital in Arlington, Va. She was 83….A … Continue reading
NYT: The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, a lieutenant to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who helped organize a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement — the bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala. — and who gave the benediction … Continue reading
Now available. The contents of 18:4: Segregated Ballots for Voters with Disabilities? An Analysis of Policies and Use of the ExpressVote Ballot Marking Device, by Jonathan LazarDiversifying the Donor Pool: How Did Seattle’s Democracy Voucher Program Reshape Participation in Municipal … Continue reading
From the announcement and call for papers for the event, scheduled for April 3, 2020: The Seattle University Law Review is excited to announce a symposium in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, in … Continue reading
As Hansi notes, Stephanie Hofeller just dropped the first full tranch of documents on The Hofeller Files. Enjoy. … Continue reading
Algernon D’Ammassa offers an intriguing critique of the “running a race” frame of American elections, tied to both news coverage and the “Campaigns, Inc.” influence of consultants. … Continue reading
Carolina Public Press reports. … Continue reading
Release via email: California’s two leading political and government law firms – Olson, Hagel & Fishburn (“OHF”) and Remcho, Johansen & Purcell (“RJP”) – announced today that they are merging on January 1, 2020 to form the new law firm … Continue reading
Detroit News: Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has elevated her legal policy director to become Michigan’s next elections director. Jonathan Brater will replace Director Sally Williams when she retires at the end of the year, Benson said in a Monday statement.He … Continue reading
who will be moving to Iowa Law School in the fall. Iowa is one lucky place! … Continue reading
Congratulations Jerry! … Continue reading
Release: Today, Common Cause honors four “Defenders of Democracy” who have played pivotal roles in reshaping America’s legal landscape to address the scourge of partisan gerrymandering. As the 2020 Decennial Census and the ensuing 2021 redistricting cycle fast approach, Common Cause recognizes the efforts of a small team of lawyers and experts who have successfully shifted the national conversation on redistricting … Continue reading
Very sad to hear this news about Steve Bickerstaff: Steve Bickerstaff, a former University of Texas law professor and an election law expert who helped guide state and local governments through the legal pitfalls surrounding redistricting and voting rights issues, … Continue reading
Big move in the election law biz reported by Brian Leiter. Congrats Nick! … Continue reading
LA Times deep dive on Dean Logan. … Continue reading
Texas Tribune: After losing his last chief election officer over a botched review of the state’s voter rolls, Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday appointed a new secretary of state: Ruth Ruggero Hughs.Ruggero Hughs is moving from the Texas Workforce Commission, which she … Continue reading
We get the election mechanics we pay for. … Continue reading
The National Law Journal reviews the law firms behind the presidential contenders. … Continue reading
Former election professor Thad Hall is practicing what he preaches, moving to become the Director of Elections in Coconino County, Arizona, from a similar gig in Richland County, South Carolina. Among other attributes, Coconino is “the second largest geographic county … Continue reading
Here’s my yearly roundup of election law academic hires, promotions moves, visits, accolades: Yasmin Dawood was named a Member of the Royal Society of Canada College. Derek Muller was promoted to full professor and will be visiting at Notre Dame … Continue reading
The Dallas Morning News reports. … Continue reading
Austin-American Statesman: Shortly before the Senate’s closing gavel ended his term as Texas secretary of state, David Whitley delivered his letter of resignation, “effective immediately,” to Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday afternoon.Whitley needed Senate confirmation by the end of the … Continue reading
AP: Texas’ embattled elections chief who wrongly questioned the U.S. citizenship of tens of thousands of voters was on the brink of losing his job Sunday, while Republican lawmakers prepared to head home hoping to save their own in 2020.Secretary … Continue reading
I am very sad to report that Notre Dame law professor John Nagle passed away after a brief illness. John wrote primarily in the area of environmental law, but he wrote occasionally in the field of election law and legislation. … Continue reading
WRAL: The state’s new Democratically controlled Board of Elections will move to oust its longtime executive director, a Republican appointee, next week.Kim Strach, originally appointed by Republican Gov. Pat McCrory in 2013, has technically been on borrowed time since the new … Continue reading
Dallas Morning News: Acting Secretary of State David Whitley, whose confirmation has been stalled in the Texas Senate after a bungled advisory from his office questioned the citizenship of nearly 100,000 voters, has asked to meet with Senate Democrats following … Continue reading
Guy Charles: As some may have heard, Judge Damon J.Keith, who was a federal judge on the 6th Circuit & prior to that a district court judge, has died. Judge Keith was a civil rights icon. I clerked for Judge … Continue reading
I’ve linked earlier to a Politico story about Mike Roman, The mysterious oppo researcher working in the White House lawyer’s office. It wasn’t clear what the opposition researcher was doing in the White House working for Don McGahn. (On Roman’s … Continue reading
Politico: The Trump campaign has hired its own in-house attorney for its 2020 reelection bid — shifting future business away from Jones Day, the law firm, that has represented Trump since his first run for president.Campaign officials and advisers cast … Continue reading
Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. So well deserved. … Continue reading
What a story from NPR: Emmet Jopling Bondurant II knew about the civil rights movement when he was a student at the University of Georgia in the 1950s, but he didn’t join it.“I was trying to get through college,” the … Continue reading
I’m off to College Park this afternoon for the Big Ten Strategic Partnership for Applied Redistricting Knowledge (SPARK) Conference Monday and Tuesday, hosted by the University of Maryland. … Continue reading
Sad news: Dennis Richardson, the Oregon secretary of state and first Republican elected to the position in three decades, died of brain cancer Tuesday night at age 69. Richardson was a respected and well-liked statesman, although at times a divisive … Continue reading
McClatchy reports. … Continue reading
CNN reports. … Continue reading
The Wichita Eagle reports. … Continue reading