Category Archives: election law and constitutional law

“Independent State Legislature” Theory, North Carolina, and Ohio

May 1, 2023, 7:43 pmelection law and constitutional law, Elections Clause, legislation and legislatures, redistricting, Supreme CourtJustin Levitt

Vik Amar and Jason Mazzone suggest that the Court grant cert. pronto in Huffman v. Neiman, the Ohio partisan gerrymandering case, as it considers whatever just happened in North Carolina. Rick had similar thoughts.

“A top GOP lawyer wants to crack down on the college vote. States already are.”

May 1, 2023, 7:37 amelection law and constitutional law, political equality, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

Zachary Roth on efforts targeting a younger segment of the electorate.

11th Circuit finds Alabama’s felon disenfranchisement law passes constitutional scrutiny

April 26, 2023, 9:39 amConstitutional Right to Vote, election law and constitutional law, felon voting, NVRA (motor voter)Derek Muller

From an opinion by Judge Tjoflat, joined by Judge Moody (sitting by designation) in Thompson v. Secretary of State for the State of Alabama (lightly edited): Greater Birmingham Ministries, an Alabamian non-profit organization dedicated to aiding low-income individuals, and several… Continue reading

NY trial court finds constitutional right to cast primary write-in for candidate who’s not a member of the party

April 9, 2023, 2:59 pmelection law and constitutional law, political parties, primariesJustin Levitt

Friday’s decision is here, with a little more illumination from the earlier hearing transcript here.

“Justice Janet Protasiewicz, Say Hello To Caperton v. Massey”

April 5, 2023, 3:33 pmcampaign finance, election law and constitutional law, judicial electionsJustin Levitt

Josh Blackman predicts (?) a surge of interest in recusal motions from conservative litigants with new appreciation for the perception of corruption in substantial campaign spending on judicial races.

State enforcement of 14th Amd. insurrection clause

April 3, 2023, 10:54 amelection law and constitutional law, election subversion riskJustin Levitt

Free Speech for People and Professor Gerard Magliocca out with a new blog post and report on state enforcement of section 3 of the 14th Amendment, prohibiting those who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the United States from… Continue reading

Recent judicial developments on the qualifications to run for Congress

May 31, 2022, 1:59 pmelection law and constitutional lawDerek Muller

It’s been a busy year for the typically-sleepy Qualifications Clause of the Constitution, but a couple of judicial developments are noteworthy. First, Newsom v. Golden considered the Tennessee Republican Party’s move to boot a candidate who failed to meet the… Continue reading

Ballot access rules for disqualified presidential candidates

October 20, 2021, 2:47 pmelection law and constitutional law, statutory interpretationDerek Muller

Ned’s post on Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment walks through challenges pertaining to former president Donald Trump’s eligibility. It’s a sound legal analysis (although I’m sure there are disputes among some as to the facts, and there’s much uncertain… Continue reading

Political Conduct and the First Amendment

July 26, 2021, 7:43 amelection law and constitutional law, First Amendment theory, social media and social protests, Supreme Court, The Voting Wars, votingFirst Amendment, Protests, Right of Assembly, voting rightsTabatha Abu El-Haj

Now that I have finished a draft of a new Article, Political Conduct and the First Amendment, I am eager to join the conversation on the ELB. I couldn’t be more thankful to Rick for including me as part… Continue reading

New Voting Laws Face Court Challenges Across the U.S.

July 19, 2021, 6:30 amcourt decisions, election administration, election law and constitutional law, Supreme Court, The Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

WSJ reports on the recent explosion of election-related litigation but also the challenges lawsuits have in light of new rulings like Brnovich.

New essay alert: “In Whom is the Right of Suffrage?”

July 6, 2021, 8:15 amelection law and constitutional law, felon voting, votingFranita Tolson

This is my first blog post on ELB, and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the revamp. I am a devout reader of the blog and very much appreciate the hard work that Rick has put… Continue reading

The list of COVID-19 election cases hits 325

October 30, 2020, 9:21 amcourt decisions, election administration, election law and constitutional law, Supreme Court, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

Justin here. I’m tracking the litigation over election issues related to COVID-19 … and the list of cases just hit 325. (The Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project also has a really useful sortable database of these cases, with more info.… Continue reading

The list of COVID-19 election cases hits 275

October 6, 2020, 1:49 pmelection administration, election law and constitutional law, Election MeltdownJustin Levitt

Justin here. I’m tracking the litigation over election issues related to COVID-19 … and the list of cases just hit 275. (The Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project also has a really useful sortable database of these cases, with more info.)… Continue reading

PA legislators ask SCOTUS to stay mail deadline ruling

September 29, 2020, 7:37 amabsentee ballots, election law and constitutional law, Elections ClauseJustin Levitt

(Cross-posted at Take Care) The state Senate leadership in Pennsylvania, intervenors in litigation over the deadline to receive ballots cast by mail, has just asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay a Sept. 17 decision of the Pennsylvania Supreme … Continue reading