Monthly Archives: February 2021

“Trump campaign enlisted influencer marketing firm”

February 18, 2021, 8:37 amcampaign finance, campaigns, cheap speechRick Hasen

Axios: In the second half of 2020, Donald Trump’s reelection campaign shelled out seven figures to an influencer marketing business linked to his White House’s former chief digital officer.Why it matters: The payments bought promotion from prominent conservative brands… Continue reading

“Is Democracy in Danger?” Jim Zirin Interviews Sam Issacharoff

February 18, 2021, 8:35 amElection MeltdownRick Hasen

You can watch the video here.

“In wake of 2020 election, Democratic senators urge Biden to expand voting rights protections”

February 18, 2021, 7:39 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

WaPo: A group of Democratic senators sent President Biden a letter Wednesday urging him to use his executive powers to expand voting-rights protections and step up enforcement of campaign-finance violations as part of an effort to turn the page on… Continue reading

“It might just be game over for the Iowa caucus”

February 18, 2021, 6:56 amprimariesRick Hasen

Politico: The siege of Iowa and New Hampshire has begun.The two states with privileged places on the presidential primary calendar are finding their roles more threatened than ever before — most recently in the form of a bill introduced in … Continue reading

“A quarter of Trump’s 6,081 Facebook posts last year featured misinformation or extreme rhetoric”

February 18, 2021, 6:51 amcheap speechRick Hasen

WaPo: Nearly a quarter of former president Donald Trump’s 6,081 Facebook posts last year contained extremist rhetoric or misinformation about the coronavirus, the election or his critics, according to a new analysis by the left-leaning group Media Matters for America.The… Continue reading

“The racial burden of voter list maintenance errors: Evidence from Wisconsin’s supplemental movers poll books”

February 17, 2021, 12:14 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

New from Gregory Huber, Marc Meredith, Michael Morse, and Katie Steele, in Science Advances. Abstract: Administrative records are increasingly used to identify registered voters who may have moved, with potential movers then sent postcards asking them to confirm their… Continue reading

“The COVID States Project #39: Public attitudes towards the storming of the Capitol building”

February 17, 2021, 11:46 amcheap speechRick Hasen

New from the Covid States Project: Two-thirds of respondents believe that the election was conducted fairly, while one-third believed that it was not. However, this aggregate pattern obscures enormous partisan gaps. Fully 96% of Democrats reported that the election had… Continue reading

“Why So Few Absentee Ballots Were Rejected In 2020”

February 17, 2021, 10:28 amabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

538: It was the nightmare scenario for the 2020 election: With so many more people than usual casting absentee ballots, observers feared that a significant share of ballots would be rejected for not following proper procedure. One study… Continue reading

“Democracy Is Weakening Right in Front of Us; Is technopessimism our new future?”

February 17, 2021, 9:59 amcheap speechRick Hasen

Tom Edsall in the NYT: A decade ago, the consensus was that the digital revolution would give effective voice to millions of previously unheard citizens. Now, in the aftermath of the Trump presidency, the consensus has shifted to anxiety that … Continue reading

“Lawsuits arrive for networks and lawyers who backed Donald Trump; Dominion and Smartmatic allege that conspiracy theories involving their products are defamatory”

February 17, 2021, 9:39 amcheap speechRick Hasen

Smart Steve Mazie in The Economist: The First Amendment grants plenty of room for robust debate; plaintiffs seeking damages for defamatory statements face an appropriately steep climb. On the rare occasions when libel or slander claims stick, the defamed entity… Continue reading

“The Case Against Restricting Voter Access”

February 17, 2021, 9:25 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

New report from R Street: The United States has endured the most contentious post-election period in modern history, as former President Donald Trump challenged the results of an election that President Joe Biden won by 7 million votes nationwide—albeit by… Continue reading

“Yes, California Requires Signature Verification For Mail-In Ballots And Newsom Recall Petitions”

February 17, 2021, 7:02 amfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Politifact California: After Republicans seeking to recall California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said they had reached the number of signatures necessary to trigger a special election, one conservative influencer falsely claimed that the organizers have faced hurdles that voters… Continue reading

Feb. 18 Event: “Moving Forward or Moving Backward: Election Legislation in the States”

February 17, 2021, 6:51 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

This Ash Center event looks great: Date: Thursday, February 18, 2021, 4:00pm to 5:00pm Location: Virtual event, registration required The 2020 elections hinged, in dramatic ways, on widely varying state laws and state election procedures. Major changes were made in light of the… Continue reading

#NY22: “As a results of mistakes made in congressional race, Oneida County Elections Commissioners will resign”

February 16, 2021, 5:21 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

The latest fallout.

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