Monthly Archives: October 2020

“U.S. TV news networks aim for credibility, not speed, on election night”

October 12, 2020, 10:11 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Reuters: In separate interviews with Reuters about their plans for election night, top executives at five major news networks described a focus on restraint, not speed; on transparency about what remains unknown; and on a reassuring message that slow results… Continue reading

“As Trump team rushes to train ‘army’ of poll watchers, experts on watch for voter intimidation”

October 12, 2020, 9:42 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

ABC News: “One of the major concerns about poll watching is that it will still lead, intentionally or not, to voter intimidation,” said Sean Morales-Doyle, the deputy director of voting rights and election programs at the Brennan Center for Justice.“An… Continue reading

“Microsoft Takes Down a Risk to the Election, and Finds the U.S. Doing the Same”

October 12, 2020, 9:35 amchicanery, voting technologyRick Hasen

NYT: Microsoft and a team of companies and law enforcement groups have disabled — at least temporarily — one of the world’s largest hacking operations, an effort run by Russian-speaking cybercriminals that officials feared could disrupt the presidential election in… Continue reading

“‘Green tsunami’: Inside Senate Republicans’ financial freak-out”

October 12, 2020, 9:13 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Politico: The online fundraising edge that Democrats have enjoyed for years has mushroomed into an overpowering force, with small-dollar donors smashing “donate” buttons over the last three months to process their disgust for President Donald Trump, fury with Senate… Continue reading

“How Biden could end 2020 on election night — and why Trump’s path is unlikely”

October 12, 2020, 9:03 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Politico: President Donald Trump has demanded to know the results of the 2020 election on election night, even though some states warn that it will take days to count their votes. But if there is a winner declared on Nov.… Continue reading

“The Constitutional Right of Self-Government”

October 12, 2020, 8:45 amtheoryRick Hasen

Nikolas Bowie has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Yale LJ). Here is the abstract: The Assembly Clause is the ugly duckling of the First Amendment. Brooding in the shadow of the heralded Free Speech Clause and the venerated Religion… Continue reading

How FDR’s Court-Packing Plan Ended the New Deal

October 12, 2020, 8:43 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

The confirmation battle over Judge Amy Coney Barrett is bringing the issue of Court-packing into public discussion for the first time since FDR’s failed effort in 1937 — as Adam Liptak’s NYT piece today reflects. If this issue gains traction… Continue reading

“How to Avoid Bush v. Gore 2.0”

October 12, 2020, 8:42 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Ned Foley in WaPo: There is a way to avoid this outcome, if it comes to that.The court could protect itself — and help reassure the country — by appointing a three-member expert panel that would consider any vote-counting… Continue reading

Huge Disparity in Election Voting Timing Between Democrats and Republicans in ABC-WaPo Poll

October 11, 2020, 9:54 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

This is something: Half of all likely voters say they plan to vote early, and an additional 7 percent say they have already voted. Among likely voters who have voted or say they will vote early, 40 percent are… Continue reading

“Jaime Harrison raised record-breaking $57 million in third quarter, campaign says”

October 11, 2020, 9:50 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WaPo: Democrat Jaime Harrison raised a record-breaking $57 million in the past three months in his bid to unseat Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), shattering the mark for a Senate candidate.The single-quarter haul Harrison raised from July through September smashes… Continue reading

Joe Biden Quickly Walks Back Comments: “The only way we lose this is by the chicanery going on with regard to polling places.”; Trump Doubles Down on Delegitimizing Rhetoric

October 11, 2020, 9:43 pmElection MeltdownRick Hasen

After I and others called out these comments as potentially delegitimizing the election, Biden quickly issued the following clarification: https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1315061619702009860?s=20 Trump of course has made dozens of comments delegitimizing the election, such as saying that the only way… Continue reading

“Trump is making the 2020 election a recipe for chaos. How Philly is preparing.”

October 11, 2020, 9:31 pmElection MeltdownRick Hasen

Philadelphia Inquirer: What if in-person votes suggestPresident Donald Trump is winning Pennsylvania after the polls close, but the slow counting of mail ballotsin Philadelphia flips the tally in favor of Democratic nomineeJoe Biden in the days after? And… Continue reading

Federal Court Holds Republican Presidential Electors in Minnesota Lack Standing to Challenge Consent Decree Extending Deadline for Receipt of Absentee Ballots

October 11, 2020, 9:25 pmabsentee ballots, electoral collegeRick Hasen

This interesting ruling has some interesting discussions about the working of the electoral college/safe harbor rules.

“Taking Page From Authoritarians, Trump Turns Power of State Against Political Rivals”

October 11, 2020, 9:11 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: President Trump’s order to his secretary of state to declassify thousands of Hillary Clinton’s emails, along with his insistence that his attorney general issue indictments against Barack Obama and Joseph R. Biden Jr., takes his presidency into new territory… Continue reading

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The law of politics and the politics of law