Monthly Archives: March 2023

“Former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis censured in Colorado for false election claims”; “Ellis admits that multiple statements she made in late 2020 about the presidential election being stolen were ‘misrepresentations'”

March 8, 2023, 5:02 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Colorado Newsline: Jenna Ellis, the Colorado attorney who was former President Donald Trump’s senior legal advisor as he tried to overturn his 2020 election loss, has been censured by a Colorado judge for misconduct. The public censure order was signed… Continue reading

“Supreme Court’s ‘Dark Money’ Rulings Anchor Defense in Ohio Political Corruption Trial”

March 8, 2023, 3:27 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

WSJ: An Ohio jury is about to decide whether politicians enlisted by an energy company to seek a $1.3 billion state bailout of its two failing nuclear plants pushed the bounds of campaign spending too far. Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. secretly spent… Continue reading

“Trump ‘White House in waiting’ helped develop Ohio voting bill touted as model for states”

March 8, 2023, 1:04 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Zach Roth: A new bill announced by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose to standardize and modernize state voting records is being welcomed by election administrators and some voter advocates, who say it could increase transparency and confidence in elections.… Continue reading

West Virginia Now Leaves ERIC

March 8, 2023, 12:05 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

The crazy doesn’t stop.

Three-judge panel in Arkansas finds Congress did not abrogate state sovereign immunity under the Voting Rights Act

March 8, 2023, 11:22 amVoting Rights ActDerek Muller

I failed to blog about this opinion that was released last fall (in October), Simpson v. Hutchinson. A three-judge district court issued the decision, Circuit Judge Stras, joined by District Judges Marshall and Moody. The court dismissed the complaint… Continue reading

Federal Court Grants Summary Judgment to Plaintiffs Suing Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman for Robocalls Meant to Suppress African-American Voting

March 8, 2023, 11:10 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Read the 111-page opinion (via Eugene Volokh).

Minnesota: “Election bill would make it illegal to knowingly spread false information that impedes voting”

March 8, 2023, 11:05 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Minnesota Reformer: Despite a dozen hearings in the Minnesota House and Senate, lawmakers have scarcely mentioned a key provision of a major elections bill that would make it a crime to spread election misinformation to try to stop people from voting.… Continue reading

Ninth Circuit rejects preliminary injunction request for San Francisco’s “secondary-contributory” disclaimers for political groups

March 8, 2023, 9:29 amcampaign financeDerek Muller

Judge Graber, joined by Judges Gould and Watford, in No on E, San Franciscans Opposing the Affordable Housing Production Act v. Chiu, in a Ninth Circuit opinion released today (highlights with some revisions below–there’s lots more in the opinion but… Continue reading

“G.O.P. States Abandon Bipartisan Voting Integrity Group, Yielding to Conspiracy Theories”

March 8, 2023, 7:11 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: First to leave was Louisiana, followed by Alabama. Then, in one fell swoop, Florida, Missouri and West Virginia announced on Monday that they would drop out of a bipartisan network of about 30 states that helps maintain accurate voter… Continue reading

“More Black Women Run for Office, but Prospects Fade the Higher They Go”

March 8, 2023, 7:09 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: As Representative Barbara Lee hits the campaign trail for a Senate seat in California, significant hurdles await her. The race is expected to be one of the most competitive, and expensive, in the country. Even more daunting, she will… Continue reading

“Why Arizona’s attorney general is suing Cochise County for giving its recorder control over elections”

March 7, 2023, 3:23 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Votebeat: Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is suing Cochise County for giving its recorder near-full control over the county’s elections, according to a lawsuit Mayes filed Tuesday. Mayes believes that, when agreeing last week to give Recorder David Stevens … Continue reading

“Trump, Vowing ‘Retribution,’ Foretells a Second Term of Spite; In a speech before his supporters, the former president charged forward in an uncharted direction, talking openly about leveraging the power of the presidency for political reprisals.”

March 7, 2023, 12:46 pmelection subversion riskRick Hasen

NYT: Donald J. Trump has for decades trafficked in the language of vengeance, from his days as a New York developer vowing “an eye for an eye” in the real estate business to ticking through an enemies ledger in… Continue reading

“A Troubling Sign for 2024: The midterms were a welcome reprieve for democracy. But the story of Bill Gates, an Arizona election official, suggests that we might not be so lucky in next year’s presidential election.”

March 7, 2023, 12:43 pmelection subversion riskRick Hasen

Bart Gellman profile of Gates in The Atlantic.

“DeSantis Does ‘Not Support’ Forcing Bloggers to Register With State”

March 7, 2023, 10:50 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Floridian: No sooner than Sen. Jason Brodeur introduced his legislative measure requiring compensated “bloggers” to register with the State of Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis struck down the bill. In a press conference shortly after delivering the 2023 State of the… Continue reading

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The law of politics and the politics of law