Category Archives: The Voting Wars

Grimmer and Hersh: “How Election Rules Affect Who Wins”

June 30, 2023, 10:21 amThe Voting WarsRick Hasen

New provocative paper draft by Justin Grimmer and Eitan Hersh, that I look forward to reading closely. Abstract: Contemporary election reforms that are purported to increase or decrease turnout tend to have negligible effects on election outcomes. We offer an… Continue reading

Expect Many More Lawsuits in Federal Court Against the Actions of State and Local Election Officials after Moore v. Harper

June 28, 2023, 5:51 pmelection administration, legislation and legislatures, Supreme Court, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

(This is the first in a series of posts I plan to write about the implications of the last part of the majority opinion in Moore v. Harper that creates something of a time bomb for litigation.) Expect many more… Continue reading

ELB Podcast 4:10: U.S. Democracy and the Independent State Legislature Theory after Moore v. Harper

June 28, 2023, 5:15 pmELB Podcast, legislation and legislatures, Supreme Court, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

New ELB Podcast (the Season 4 Finale!): What are the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision in Moore v. Harper for American democracy? What will the case mean for 2024 election challenges? Does the decision shut down attempts to submit… Continue reading

“Under the Radar, Right-Wing Push to Tighten Voting Laws Persists”

May 8, 2023, 3:34 pmThe Voting Wars, votingnew vote denial, rank-choice votingTabatha Abu El-Haj

N.Y. Times article bout a second, concerted wave of republican-sponsored legislative efforts to restrict voting, funded by “billionaire-backed advocacy groups” allied with Trump. The key point is that this new wave is based on a strategy of “radical incrementalism”–an effort… Continue reading

“Three Cases in North Carolina, Decades of Democracy Undone”

May 7, 2023, 4:45 pmelection administration, election law and constitutional law, felon voting, judicial elections, redistricting, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

Gene Nichol spitting fire in Slate.

“A group offered cities money to opt in to ranked choice voting. State elections office warns accepting that is likely illegal”

May 7, 2023, 4:42 pmalternative voting systems, election administration, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

In response to a question at a city council meeting, an advocacy organization’s representative apparently noted that one county’s implementation of RCV might cost an extra $36,000 for software licensing, ballot design, and the like … and that the… Continue reading

“Guns at polls? Texas House approves bill to arm election workers”

May 6, 2023, 8:33 amelection administration, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

Because of course.

“The Election Deniers’ Playbook for 2024”

May 4, 2023, 8:52 pmelection administration, election subversion risk, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

The Brennan Center summarizes 14 tactics facilitating election subversion, and the ways that they’ve manifested in 2022 and 2023.

Young Latino voters will be vital to the outcome of the 2024 election

May 2, 2023, 4:05 pmpolitical equality, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

Brookings with a post on the “nuanced relationship between young Latinos and the dominant parties,” in their series on younger voters. With a very different focus on laws aimed at college voters, CNN also has a piece today on the… Continue reading

“Voting has gotten harder in Wisconsin. Organizers have found ways to help.”

May 2, 2023, 4:03 pmelection administration, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

Wisconsin Watch deploying the Cost of Voting Index to track changes over the past few decades.

“As 2024 Campaigns Begin, States Confront Threats to Election Workers”

May 1, 2023, 7:42 pmchicanery, election law biz, election subversion risk, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

And yet, there’s a lot more to be done. NCSL has more on a disturbing trend that should be of concern to every single one of its members. And good for Kansas SOS Scott Schwab for speaking up here (and… Continue reading

“The first arrests from DeSantis’s election police take extensive toll”

May 1, 2023, 7:38 amchicanery, felon voting, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

The WaPo on a message communicated to Floridians: “Voting is dangerous.”

“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.

Election Litigation Fell Almost 25 Percent in 2021-22 Compared to Last Midterm Election Season (2017-18), But Slump May Not Last [Corrected]

April 26, 2023, 7:01 amelection administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

My latest data crunching of a sample of election law cases shows a steep drop in the rate of election litigation, with litigation averaging 257 .5 cases per year in the 2021-22 midterm election period, down almost 19 percent compared… Continue reading