Monthly Archives: July 2018

“SC’s 13,000 voting machines unreliable, vulnerable to hackers, lawsuit alleges”

July 11, 2018, 6:20 amvoting technologyDan Tokaji

The State. The complaint filed in federal district court alleges: In South Carolina, the capacity of the state’s election system to record and count votes reliably is deeply compromised by the state’s unnecessarily vulnerable voting system. Throughout the state,… Continue reading

Appellate Briefs in Florida Voting Rights Restoration Case

July 10, 2018, 8:14 pmUncategorizedDan Tokaji

Here are the Appellants’, Appellees’, and Reply briefs in Hand v. Scott, to be argued before the Eleventh Circuit July 25. The district court concluded that Florida’s scheme violated the First Amendment by giving officials unfettered discretion over… Continue reading

“Austin siblings create board game to tackle gerrymandering”

July 10, 2018, 7:52 pmredistrictingDan Tokaji

Story and video here. One of the creators sends this message: My name is Josh Lafair, and I am a junior in high school. I have always believed that America, despite its polarization, is a great democracy. Then I… Continue reading

Coverage of Kavanaugh Nomination

July 10, 2018, 9:35 amSupreme CourtDan Tokaji

[Bumped to top] NYT calls Judge Kavanaugh a “Conservative Stalwart,” noting his involvement in an “extraordinary number of political controversies” since early in his legal career, including Ken Starr’s investigation of President Clinton and the 2000 Florida recount litigation. It… Continue reading

Montana Court Grants Relief in Challenge to Green Party Petition

July 10, 2018, 9:17 ampetition signature gatheringDan Tokaji

From the conclusion of the district court order in the case challenging the Green Party’s candidate petition: 1. Certain signatures on the Petition are declared invalid …. Removal of these signatures results in the Petition not qualifying in the 34… Continue reading

“With Russian meddling in mind, California invests $134 million to safeguard election systems”

July 10, 2018, 9:04 amvoting technologyDan Tokaji

Sacramento Bee: With increased attention to cybersecurity lately, California is making a sizable investment in its election infrastructure. This year’s state budget provides $134 million for counties to modernize voting systems. It also provides $3 million for the creation… Continue reading

“Environmental group files lawsuit to block California’s split-the-state measure from November ballot”

July 10, 2018, 6:47 amdirect democracyDan Tokaji

LAT reports on a case filed yesterday in the California Supreme Court to block Prop. 9, which would divide California into three states.

President Trump Picks Kavanaugh

July 9, 2018, 6:06 pmSupreme CourtDan Tokaji

More to come!

Derek Muller’s “The Democracy Ratchet”

July 9, 2018, 4:41 pmelection law and constitutional law, voting, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Available on SSRN. From the abstract: Litigants seeking to lift burdens on the right to vote and judges adjudicating these claims have an unremarkable problem—what is the benchmark for measuring the nature of these burdens? Legal theories abound for… Continue reading

“Ohio restarts voter purge process with changes to help prevent unnecessary cancellations”

July 9, 2018, 10:50 amvoter registrationDan Tokaji

Cleveland.com reports on directives (2018-19, 2018-20, 2018-21 and 2018-22) that Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted issued today. They restart Ohio’s supplemental process for removing voters from the rolls, upheld by the Supreme Court in Husted… Continue reading

How Should Courts Evaluate Recent Changes to Voting Laws

July 9, 2018, 8:51 amvotingRichard Pildes

An increasingly central and recurring issue in voting-rights litigation today is how courts should evaluate recent changes to various laws regulating the voting system. How much should the prior status quo matter in this assessment? This can present paradoxes for… Continue reading

If You Follow Election Law Blog on Twitter . . .

July 9, 2018, 8:21 amelection law bizDan Tokaji

I’ll post updates on my Twitter account (@Title52law) while Rick is out this week. And don’t worry, I almost never use it for anything else.

SCOTUS Decision Day Roundup

July 9, 2018, 8:17 amSupreme CourtDan Tokaji

President Trump is scheduled to announce his nominee in prime time tonight, with Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge, and Thomas Hardiman the four reported finalists. Coverage and analysis from 538, NYT, Politico, RCP, WSJ… Continue reading

Trey Grayson on Automatic Voter Registration

July 9, 2018, 8:07 amvoter registrationDan Tokaji

The former Kentucky Secretary of State (2004-11) and NASS president (2009-10), a Republican, offers his thoughts: “We can all agree that outdated voter rolls are a problem that must be addressed to safeguard the integrity of our elections. Automated… Continue reading