Monthly Archives: September 2020

“Democrats used to rail against ‘dark money.’ Now they’re better at it than the GOP.”

September 14, 2020, 8:26 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

NBC News: When allies of former President Barack Obama set up a super PAC to support his 2012 re-election, the White House disowned the group, The New York Times published a scathing editorial and former Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold… Continue reading

“Federal judge temporarily blocks Postal Service from sending election mailer to more voters in Colorado”

September 14, 2020, 8:10 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

WaPo: A federal judge late Saturday temporarily blocked the U.S. Postal Service from sending a notice about the November elections to more people in Colorado, finding that the mailer “provides patently false information” about the state’s voting system that could… Continue reading

“20,000 Mail-in Ballots Didn’t Count in Pa.’s June Primary, Half the 2016 Victory Margin”

September 14, 2020, 8:08 pmabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

NBC Philadelphia reports.

“Introducing the 2020 Election Litigation Tracker”

September 14, 2020, 6:12 pmSupreme CourtRick Hasen

Exciting announcement: Twenty years ago this fall, a hotly contested presidential election led to 36 days of legal turmoil that culminated with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bush v. Gore. This year, as America prepares to vote during the… Continue reading

“Democracy on a Shoestring”

September 14, 2020, 6:05 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

Joshua Sellers and Roger Michalski have posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming Vanderbilt Law Review). Here is the abstract: Democracy is expensive. Voters must be registered, voting rolls updated, election dates advertised, voting technology purchased and tested, poll workers trained,… Continue reading

Breaking: Justice Kagan Denies Another Supreme Court Petition to Put Green Party on the Ballot in Montana

September 14, 2020, 4:02 pmballot access, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

The case is Davis v. Stapleton. Justice Kagan did not ask for a response on this one. This is the second Green Party case from Montana denied by Justice Kagan.

Republican EAC Commissioners Speaking on Zoom Call Organized by “Lawyers Democracy Fund” “to Analyze Effects of Vote-By-Mail Litigation in PA, IA, WI, and Across US”

September 14, 2020, 3:36 pmElection Assistance Commission, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

This seems worthy of a deeper dive, particularly what Christy McCormick and Don Palmer should be saying about this topic: Lawyers Democracy Fund (calling itself “LDF”–hmm) seems to have a lot of overlap with RNLA and Honest Elections Project.

Breaking: In 4-3 Vote NOT Along Party Lines, Wisconsin Supreme Court Keeps Green Party Off the Ballot (Link to Opinion), Which Should Allow Ballots to Be Printed (But Kanye West Appeal Perhaps Coming and Delaying Things Further?)

September 14, 2020, 2:54 pmballot accessRick Hasen

You can find the opinions and dissent here. Conservative Justice Bruce Hagedorn joined the court’s liberals to form a majority. One of the dissents refers to this case as “perhaps one of the mostimportant cases in a judicial lifetime.”… Continue reading

“A bug in Joe Biden’s campaign app gave anyone access to millions of voter files”

September 14, 2020, 2:17 pmcampaigns, cheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

Tech Crunch: A privacy bug in Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s official campaign app allowed anyone to look up sensitive voter information on millions of Americans, a security researcher has found.The campaign app, Vote Joe, allows Biden supporters to… Continue reading

“Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose blocks Cuyahoga County elections plan offering ballot drop-off sites at libraries”

September 14, 2020, 2:01 pmabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

Very troubling: Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose on Monday swiftly moved to block the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections from implementing a plan that would have allowed voters to drop off their completed absentee ballots at six libraries… Continue reading

“‘This is f—ing crazy’: Florida Latinos swamped by wild conspiracy theories; A flood of disinformation and deceptive claims is damaging Joe Biden in the nation’s biggest swing state.”

September 14, 2020, 1:57 pmcampaigns, cheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

Politico: George Soros directs a “deep state” global conspiracy network. A Joe Biden win would put America in control of “Jews and Blacks.” The Democratic nominee has a pedophilia problem.Wild disinformation like this is inundating Spanish-speaking residents of South… Continue reading

Sept. 17 Constitution Day Event at U. Cincinnati: “The Resiliency of Our Electoral System”

September 14, 2020, 1:38 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Looking forward to this: Date: September 17, 2020 12:15 PM – 1:15 PMTicketing: RegisterOhio is a bellwether state for national elections and the University of Cincinnati College of Law is leading the conversation about the particularly important topic of… Continue reading

Cardozo Sept. 23 event: “Election 2020: The Challenge, The Law, and the Path Ahead”

September 14, 2020, 1:34 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Details: Join us Sept. 23rd at 5pm EST to hear from a stellar panel on the challenges facing #Election2020.@CardozoLaw Professors @mvadams12 & @DebPearlstein will be joined by @JNelsonLDF, @rickhasen, and @DeanTokaji.Register: https://t.co/to16g9CNOT— Floersheimer Center… Continue reading

Blockbuster BuzzFeed Story: “Facebook Is Turning A Blind Eye To Global Political Manipulation, According To This Explosive Secret Memo”

September 14, 2020, 1:32 pmcampaigns, cheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

So troubling: Facebook ignored or was slow to act on evidence that fake accounts on its platform have been undermining elections and political affairs around the world, according to an explosive memo sent by a recently fired Facebook employee and… Continue reading

Election Law Blog

The law of politics and the politics of law