Monthly Archives: January 2020

Wisconsin Appeals Court Puts Purge on Hold

January 14, 2020, 10:32 amvoter registrationDan Tokaji

Journal Sentinel: An appeals court ordered the state to keep more than 200,000 people on its voter rolls Tuesday, a day after an Ozaukee County judge found election officials in contempt of court for not following his December decision… Continue reading

“Redistricting power at stake in 2020 legislative elections”

January 14, 2020, 4:19 amredistrictingDan Tokaji

AP report, with a rundown of the major states in play.

“Nebraska GOP lawmakers renew voter ID bill effort”

January 14, 2020, 4:14 amvoter idDan Tokaji

CNN: ” The measure, introduced Friday by state Sen. Andrew La Grone, is a proposed state constitutional amendment that would require a poll worker to ‘review a photograph or digital image of each voter to verify the identity… Continue reading

“Texas Democrats launch largest voter registration campaign to hobble GOP’s grip on the state”

January 14, 2020, 4:13 amvoter registrationDan Tokaji

ABC News, on the collaboration with Stacey Abrams’ group Fair Fight 2020: ” Texas Democrats, fueled by the party’s nearly quarter-century-held dream of turning Texas blue, are mounting an aggressive ground-game operation with the largest voter registration program in… Continue reading

“Ohio bill proposes automatic voter registration for voting-age high schoolers”

January 14, 2020, 4:10 amvoter registrationDan Tokaji

Cleveland.com: A group of Democratic state lawmakers has proposed automatically registering all Ohio high-school students to vote once they reach voting age.The bill, introduced in the Ohio House on Monday, also requires the state BMV to offer Ohioans the… Continue reading

“Seattle City Council bans ‘foreign-influenced’ companies from most political spending”

January 14, 2020, 3:12 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

Seattle Times: The Seattle City Council voted Monday to ban most political spending by “foreign-influenced corporations,” in a move that could hinder attempts by multinational tech titans to influence the city’s elections…. The city’s new ban applies to corporations… Continue reading

“Wisconsin judge orders up to 209K voter names be deleted”

January 13, 2020, 12:18 pmvoter registrationDan Tokaji

From AP, the latest on the Wisconsin purge: The state Justice Department asked [Ozaukee County Judge Paul] Malloy to stay his order of contempt pending an appeal of his ruling, but the judge denied the request. Malloy held… Continue reading

“Prepare to Be Shocked! Trump’s One Weird Trick to Avoid a Campaign Investigation”

January 13, 2020, 12:01 pmcampaign financeDan Tokaji

From the Center for Public Integrity. Hint: it involves the FEC.

“Bridgegate” in SCOTUS

January 13, 2020, 11:57 amUncategorizedDan Tokaji

Tomorrow, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear argument in Kelly v. United States. The Hill has this story, and Amy Howe’s SCOTUSblog preview is here. At issue in the case are the convictions of an aide to… Continue reading

Federal Court Orders New York State to Include Names of Inactive Voters at Polling Places

January 13, 2020, 10:20 amUncategorizedDan Tokaji

U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan issued the order in Common Cause N.Y. v. Brehm on Friday. The Gothamist has this story, and Lawyers’ Committee this press release. The order follows a four-day bench trial in October. From… Continue reading

SCOTUS Denies Cert in SEC Pay-to-Play Case

January 13, 2020, 10:09 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

Bloomberg on today’s order in N.Y. Republican State Comm. v. SEC, a First Amendment challenge to SEC Rule 2030, which regulates “placement agents” who solicit government business after making campaign contributions.

Can Election Rules Be Changed After the Election?

January 12, 2020, 8:35 amBush v. Gore reflectionsDan Tokaji

That’s what the Oregon state legislature is alleged to have done in the strange and fascinating case of the City of Damascus, in which a petition for review is pending before the Oregon Supreme Court. It’s been called the undead … Continue reading

“Digital Threats on 2020 Elections”

January 12, 2020, 7:20 amchicanery, political polarizationDan Tokaji

NPR interview with Siva Vaidhyanathan. An excerpt: MARTIN: So moving forward in 2020, as where we sit right now – obviously, it’s an election year in the United States. And I assume most Americans are very interested and concerned in… Continue reading

Bloomberg Open to Spending $1 Billion to Elect A Democratic President

January 12, 2020, 7:13 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

NYT: “Michael R. Bloomberg on Saturday did not rule out spending a billion dollars of his own money on the 2020 presidential race, even if he does not win the Democratic nomination, and said he would mobilize his… Continue reading