Ciara Torres-Spelliscy blogs. … Continue reading
Category Archives: The Voting Wars
I have posted this new draft on SSRN (for the pre-APSA event, Protecting Electoral Security and Voting Rights: The 2016 U.S. Elections in Comparative Perspective). Here is the abstract: If the “voting wars” which have broken out across the post-2000 election … Continue reading
As I noted in my New York Times piece this weekend, Since 2005, I have tracked the rate of election litigation, which tells us how often plaintiffs go to court to fight over election rules. My latest research demonstrates that election litigation in … Continue reading
Denver Post: Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams told the Trump administration in a letter dated Friday that the state’s election system works well and that a blanket request for voter information isn’t an effective way to seek out fraud. Williams’ … Continue reading
Weigel: The National Republican Congressional Committee dismissed as a “political stunt” a letter from its counterpart, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, asking for the two parties to team up on combating hacking ahead of the 2018 election. “This letter was … Continue reading
HuffPo: Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), the official leading President Donald Trump’s voter fraud probe, apparently sought to amend federal voting law to make it possible to require proof of citizenship during the voter registration process, according to an email … Continue reading
WSJ: To understand the scale of the hacking attempts against election systems in the 2016 presidential election, consider South Carolina. On Election Day alone, there were nearly 150,000 attempts to penetrate the state’s voter-registration system, according to a postelection report by the … Continue reading
I have written this piece for the New York Times Sunday Review. It begins; The strength and integrity of the American electoral process are under tremendous strain, but the worst may be yet to come. In just the past few … Continue reading
Former National Security Adviser Tom Donilon in WaPo: We now know that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a comprehensive effort to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. This mission involved the cybertheft and strategic publication of politically sensitive emails, the placement and … Continue reading
WaPo: The White House on Thursday made public a trove of emails it received from voters offering comment on its Election Integrity Commission. The commission drew widespread criticism when it emerged into public view by asking for personal information, including addresses, partial social … Continue reading
Denver Post: Nearly 3,400 Coloradans canceled their voter registrations in the wake of the Trump administration’s request for voter info, the Secretary of State’s Office confirmed Thursday, providing the first statewide glimpse at the extent of the withdrawals. The 3,394 cancellations represent … Continue reading
William Gallo for VOA. … Continue reading
Must-read Celeste Katz: When President Donald Trump’s “voter fraud panel” holds its first meeting on July 19, members of the public won’t be able to speak. Instead, the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity, which has enraged and frightened plenty of Americans by requesting detailed … Continue reading
Scott Lemieux for Reuters Opinion. … Continue reading
Josh Douglas CNN opinion piece. … Continue reading
Greg Sargent: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which oversees House races, has issued a formal request to its Republican counterpart, asking it to join in showing a “united front” and creating a “joint plan” against any Russian efforts to undermine … Continue reading
Complaint to the Office of the Inspector General. … Continue reading
Ari Berman writes for The Nation. … Continue reading
Carl Leubsdorf for the Dallas Morning News. … Continue reading
Release from Brennan Center: Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson said she will give some voter information to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity as requested, but Indiana civic groups and others argue in a lawsuit submitted to Lake County court today … Continue reading
WDRB: The nation’s Secretaries of State sent a clear message to the White House. Members of the National Association of Secretaries of State meeting in Indianapolis unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution underscoring the Constitutional rights of of states to administer local, … Continue reading
TPM reports. … Continue reading
Release: The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit today over the lack of transparency by President Trump’s election commission. The lawsuit charges the commission with failing to comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which is designed to … Continue reading
NYT: Republicans scrambled to distance themselves from the letter’s call for private data like birthdates and partial Social Security numbers without impugning their president’s claim or his commission. But giving the claim credibility placed them in the awkward position of saying either … Continue reading
NBC News reports. … Continue reading
Release. … Continue reading
Listen here. … Continue reading
Ohio.com: Two of the three candidates to succeed Ohio’s current secretary of state support his decision not to release sensitive voter information to President Donald Trump’s Commission on Election Integrity. And the third, who would not comment for this story, … Continue reading
News & Observer: North Carolina lawmakers say they might have to change 116 of the state’s 170 state legislative districts to correct the illegal racially gerrymandered districts used to elect General Assembly members for the past six years. The private … Continue reading
In Colorado, Florida, and more. Let’s hope these voters re-register when they can be assured of more privacy of their information. … Continue reading
NYT reports. … Continue reading
Chris Geidner: A federal court on Friday heard arguments in a lawsuit alleging that the president’s “election integrity” commission has violated federal privacy laws in its request for voter information from the states. US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly held more … Continue reading
Mic reports. … Continue reading
Listen here, beginning around the 32-minute mark. … Continue reading
Eliza Newlin Carney with the rundown. … Continue reading
Mother Jones: At the time Noxubee County got its letter, the ACRU’s legal work was led by J. Christian Adams, a former staff attorney in the Voting Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Adams joined the department in 2005, when … Continue reading
Must-see TV. … Continue reading
From the Christopher Ingraham profile of the Pence-Kobach members: Earlier this week, following the commission’s voter data request, Borunda resigned from the committee without explanation. He declined to comment to The Post on his reasons for doing so. A spokesman for Pence said via … Continue reading
Mic: This is hardly the first time Pence, who didn’t even have the current president as his first choice for GOP nominee last year, has had to use the skills he gleaned from years in both media and radio to defend Trump’s positioning. Darrell West, vice … Continue reading
Elie Mystal: You’ll note the dangerous assumption in Professor Hasen’s argument. He thinks “serious” Republicans and Democrats will have the backbone to stand up to the administration when it comes time for the commission to kill what it was put … Continue reading
Jessica Huseman for Pro Publica: Vice President Mike Pence’s office has confirmed the White House commission on voter fraud intends to run the state voter rolls it has requested against federal databases to check for potential fraudulent registration. Experts say … Continue reading
HuffPo: As election officials across the country push back against a wide-ranging request for voter data from a federal panel investigating election fraud, they may be getting too much credit ― or blame ― for resisting President Donald Trump. Much of the news … Continue reading
Texas and other states are right to refuse request for private voter information. #txlege https://t.co/7VOz67NBvs — Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) July 6, 2017 … Continue reading
News and Observer: North Carolina’s election oversight board has been vacant for more than a month, but the N.C. Supreme Court is poised to decide if Gov. Roy Cooper must make appointments to the new board designed by Republicans. Cooper … Continue reading
DOJ’s position: Now that Texas passed a new law softening its voter id law, there’s nothing more the court should do. No need to find Texas acted with a discriminatory purpose, no need for an injunction, further judicial supervision, or … Continue reading
Baltimore Sun: Lawyers deposed former Gov. Martin O’Malley, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Millerand House Speaker Michael E. Busch as part of the lawsuit this year. In transcripts of those interviews, made public this month, O’Malley acknowledged that part of his goal was … Continue reading
Baltimore Sun editorial: Closer to home, Marylanders got another whiff of this deliberate incompetence with the rather bizarre appointment of — followed by sudden resignation by — Maryland Deputy Secretary of State Luis E. Borunda to the election integrity panel. … Continue reading
Michael Chertoff, former head of DHS, with a WaPo oped: We know that voting information has been the target of hackers. News reports indicate that election-related systems in as many as 39 states were penetrated, focusing on campaign finance, registration and even … Continue reading
Hatch Act (Kobach only) (Kobach also sanctioned for misleading court on voting info, but not as part of commission) Federal Advisory Commissions Act Paperwork Reduction Act Federal privacy laws (Judge Kollar-Kotelly wants response, including knowing who is on Commission) (Chris Geidner … Continue reading
Notice in FR of July 19 meeting: This meeting will consist of a ceremonial swearing in of Commission members, introductions and statements from members, a discussion of the Commission’s charge and objectives, possible comments or presentations from invited experts, and … Continue reading