I am getting this question a lot this morning. Let me begin by saying it is the wrong question to ask (for reasons I explain below). But here’s what we know if we were trying to answer this question: If … Continue reading
Category Archives: The Voting Wars
I’ll have much more to say on this soon. But I just wanted to note this point, as I’ve made earlier, that control of the political branches means control of the Supreme Court. And a conservative Supreme Court will be … Continue reading
Without access to all the data, it is hard to judge the Clinton campaign’s call. Recall that John Kerry waited until the next morning to concede to George W. Bush in 2004, until the Ohio result was clear. The additional … Continue reading
Ned Foley blogs. … Continue reading
Ari Berman dispatch from Wisconsin. … Continue reading
I have written this piece for Slate, analyzing the legal claims about early voting, delving into Nevada’s statutes. It begins: Donald Trump’s campaign filed a complaint on Tuesday alleging that election officials in Nevada broke the law by allowing up to … Continue reading
Josh Douglas for RegBlog. … Continue reading
LVRJ: The Donald Trump campaign has filed court papers asking a Clark County district judge to impound ballots at several early voting sites in Southern Nevada because of alleged election violations. I haven’t seen the complaint yet, but here’s what … Continue reading
Emily Badger for NYT’s The UpShot: Early voters, urban voters and minority voters are all more likely to wait and wait and wait. In predominantly minority communities, the lines are about twice as long as in predominantly white ones, Mr. … Continue reading
David Leonardt NYT column Congress could set minimum standards for each state — requiring automatic voter registration, for example. I realize that most congressional Republicans now have little interest in voting rights. But I’d urge them to consider their party’s … Continue reading
Ari Melber for NBC News. … Continue reading
The Guardian: Judge Diamond wrote in denying a temporary restraining order: “Neither witness knew of any actual voter intimidation efforts or of any voters who had actually been intimidated. Rather, both were concerned that Mr Trump’s statements ‘might’ or ‘could’ … Continue reading
We'll have teams everywhere tomorrow. If you are doing something wrong on Election Day we find you we film you and we will make you famous. — James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) November 7, 2016 … Continue reading
NYT: Millions of Americans will cast their ballots on Tuesday under intense scrutiny both from vigilantes who fear the election will be rigged and from thousands of voting rights advocates who fear the tally will be distorted by intimidation and, … Continue reading
Early voting is like picking the winner of a baseball game in the 7th inning. Stop this early voting craze. Quit making it so easy to vote. — Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) November 7, 2016 … Continue reading
Emily Bazelon for NYT Magazine. … Continue reading
Fortune magazine. … Continue reading
Chris Geidner: On Monday afternoon, the Supreme Court denied Democrats’ request to reinstate a trial court order barring the presidential campaigns and others from several activities views by the lower court as voter intimidation tactics. A federal appeals court had … Continue reading
I have written this piece to run in tomorrow’s LA Times. It begins: For those of us who follow elections and election law professionally, election day itself is pretty uneventful—unless of course you work for a campaign. There often are … Continue reading
Andrew Cohen: I wonder what goes through the mind of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts these frantic days as he reads one account after another of voter suppression in the 2016 election. Does he regret his decisive vote … Continue reading
Brazen. … Continue reading
AP: Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee have paid at least $1.8 million to a political operative whose roster of companies include several that have been repeatedly investigated for voter registration fraud, even as Trump has complained that … Continue reading
WFAE reports. … Continue reading
Emily Cadei for Newsweek. … Continue reading
I noted earlier that a Sixth Circuit panel, cutting some important corners, reversed a trial court order barring the Trump campaign and others from acts of voter intimidation and other activity in Ohio. The Democrats have now filed this application … Continue reading
Watch. … Continue reading
Much has been made of the Democrats’ losing a number of cases they have filed to try to get Trump, the RNC and Roger Stone to be barred from acts of voter intimidation. But, as I wrote yesterday regarding the … Continue reading
Yesterday a federal court in Ohio out an order against the Trump campaign and others in Ohio, which is now the subject of a Sixth Circuit appeal. I see some issues of due process, vagueness and overbreadth in that order and expect … Continue reading
ABC: As Donald Trump swept his campaign across the country in a final sprint, he claimed that long lines in Clark County, Nevada, were evidence of electoral wrongdoing. “It’s being reported that certain key Democratic polling locations in Clark County … Continue reading
Chris Geidner for BuzzFeed: The Supreme Court attempted to slow an ever-expanding map of pre-election litigation on Saturday — sending a message to lower courts that the time had passed for rulings that would change the way election laws are … Continue reading
Wow. … Continue reading
Order with no noted dissents. Yesterday I explained: Aside from the merits of this decision (which I discussed in this post), there is a whole lot going on in this opinion about proper application of the Purcell principle (as in, when … Continue reading
Ned Foley and Charles Stewart WaPo oped: Moreover, it would be reasonable for a candidate behind by several thousand votes in a state critical to winning the electoral college to think it possible to make up the difference by provisional … Continue reading
Texas Monthly reports. … Continue reading
AP reports. … Continue reading
William Barber NYT oped. … Continue reading
Steve Huefner: Indeed, earlier this year the American Law Institute approved a set of principles (which can be found here) for conducting early and absentee voting, one of which is akin to Arizona’s anti-harvesting law. (I serve as the Associate … Continue reading
A snippet from the opinion: Second, whether true or false, and whether appealing or repugnant to the listener, Mr. Trump’s and his agents’ statements that the election is rigged, that voter fraud is being perpetrated en masse by “illegal aliens,” and … Continue reading
The other shoe just dropped in Arizona. The Ninth Circuit, en banc, issued this short order declining an injunction pending appeal on the en banc case, and making it clear that when the en banc court considers this matter fully, what … Continue reading
Rick Perlstein in the Washington Spectator. … Continue reading
Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting: Democrats who have become increasingly worried about possible voter intimidation at the polls say local Republicans could find themselves on the wrong side of the law, after a poll watching training led by the Maricopa … Continue reading
Josh Douglas oped for CNN. … Continue reading
It’s like when they speed up those movies to 10 times real time. Ohio case appeal. AZ emergency application to J. Kennedy. (My earlier analysis on why so much is riding on Justice Kennedy here.) … Continue reading
In my last post on the order issued against Trump, Stop the Steal, etc. in the Ohio voter intimidation case, I noted the oddity that the injunction also applies against those working with the Clinton campaign but not the Ohio … Continue reading
After the hearing, this opinion and order granting a preliminary injunction were expected. … Continue reading
The order is here. It is broad and important, including stopping Roger Stone’s group from purported to engage in “exit polling” that is really about questioning and hassling voters. It doesn’t apply to the Ohio Republican Party, I assume because … Continue reading
You can find the opinions (including two dissents) at this link. Aside from the merits of this decision (which I discussed in this post), there is a whole lot going on in this opinion about proper application of the Purcell … Continue reading
Release: A state court has ordered a permanent halt to Kansas’ dual voter registration system, meaning thousands of Kansans will have their votes counted for federal, state, and local elections in next week’s election and beyond. The American Civil Liberties … Continue reading
Eric Heisig: A federal judge on Friday said he will issue a restraining order against Donald Trump’s campaign and longtime adviser Roger Stone to avoid “harassing or intimidating conduct” at polling places on Nov. 8 Election Day. U.S. District Judge James Gwin did … Continue reading
Flavio Komuves: A 2.5 hour oral argument (with a 15 minute break) just concluded. The judge questioned both sides in detail on their affidavits and arguments. Judge Vazquez asked the RNC to submit some supplemental materials on the distinction between … Continue reading