Monthly Archives: September 2018

Brad Smith Also Rejects Claim That Fundraising Against Collins Should She Vote for Kavanaugh is Bribery, But He Has Another Concern

September 15, 2018, 6:27 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Smith in WaPo: The first relevant statute is 18 U.S.C. 201, which prohibits any person from “corruptly” offering “anything of value to any public official . . . with intent to influence any official act.” The organizers and donors here… Continue reading

“Serious design flaw in ESS ExpressVote touchscreen: ‘permission to cheat'”

September 15, 2018, 6:20 amvoting technologyRick Hasen

Andrew Appel blogs.

The State of Play in North Carolina and Wisconsin

September 14, 2018, 12:39 pmUncategorizedNicholas Stephanopoulos

I wanted to flag for the blog’s readers some significant developments that took place this week in the North Carolina and Wisconsin partisan gerrymandering cases. In North Carolina, the trial court agreed to stay the remedial process on the condition… Continue reading

Crum: The Prospect of Bailing-in Texas: Recent Bail-in Litigation (2)

September 14, 2018, 9:39 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

This is the second in a series of guest posts by Travis Crum: In this series of posts, I’m addressing the statutory, constitutional, and strategic issues surrounding a potential bail-in of Texas. But before we dive into this ongoing redistricting… Continue reading

“Democrats revive their lawsuit over Wisconsin gerrymandering in hopes of blocking election maps in 2020”

September 14, 2018, 9:24 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Democrats are renewing their lawsuit over election maps that have helped Republicans maintain big margins in the state Assembly. An expanded group of Democratic voters filed a new version of their long-running lawsuit on Friday, three months after… Continue reading

“Koch-funded group supports voting rights for felons in Florida”

September 14, 2018, 9:00 amfelon votingRick Hasen

Tampa Bay Times: A national group with close ties to the Koch Brothers, Freedom Partners, has thrown its support behind Amendment 4 on the Florida ballot — the proposal to restore voting rights to most convicted felons without hearings or… Continue reading

“The Overlooked Weak Link in Election Security”

September 14, 2018, 7:10 amelection administrationRick Hasen

ProPublica: More than one-third of counties that are overseeing elections in some of the most contested congressional races this November run email systems that could make it easy for hackers to log in and steal potentially sensitive information. A ProPublica… Continue reading

Unanimous 11th Circuit Panel Holds that Local Election Change in Jurisdiction Previously Covered by Voting Rights Act Section 5 and Passed Before Shelby County Must Be Implemented Now

September 13, 2018, 9:10 pmVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

This could have some very large implications. How many other laws are out there that were never enacted or blocked by Section 5 which someone could now sue to revive? (h/t John Nieman)

“Orange County DA finds ‘no crime’ in review of Assembly decoy candidate allegations”

September 13, 2018, 8:22 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

The OC Register reports.

What’s Behind the DOJ Request for Voting Documents in North Carolina?

September 13, 2018, 3:55 pmchicanery, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Steven Rosenfeld: According to two now-retired senior North Carolina State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement (BOE) officials — Gary Bartlett, its former executive director, who served for 20 years in that post, and Marshall Tutor, his top investigator —… Continue reading

“How Brett Kavanaugh could help create an era of rampant corruption”

September 13, 2018, 10:55 amcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Paul Waldman for the Plum Line.

Unanimous 7th Circuit Panel, in Opinion by Judge Skyes, Rejects Challenges to Illinois Campaign Finance Limits

September 13, 2018, 10:54 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Nice to see.

“Exclusive: Audio Reveals Potentially Illegal Coordination Between NRA and Montana Senate Hopeful Matt Rosendale”

September 13, 2018, 10:20 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Daily Beast: Before the National Rifle Association dropped hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to flip a competitive, Democratic-held Senate seat, the gun-rights group’s chief lobbyist apparently gave the race’s Republican challenger a heads-up. Chris Cox, the top political… Continue reading

Crum: The Prospect of Bailing-in Texas: Initial Thoughts (1)

September 13, 2018, 9:39 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

The following is the first of five guest posts from Travis Crum on Bailing in Texas to voting rights preclearance: The three-judge district court overseeing the long-running Texas redistricting litigation recently ordered the parties to brief whether the State should… Continue reading