Monthly Archives: March 2023

Federal courts note circuit split on whether the “materiality” provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes a right privately enforceable under Section 1983

March 30, 2023, 8:50 amabsentee ballots, court decisionsDerek Muller

The “materiality” provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is as follows: No person acting under color of law shall . . . deny the right of any individual to vote in any election because of an error or… Continue reading

Florida: “2 DeSantis election fraud cases end with guilty pleas in Hillsborough; Both men received six months of probation. Their attorneys called the prosecutions political.”

March 30, 2023, 6:50 amfelon votingRick Hasen

Tampa Bay Times: Two Hillsborough County residents who were part of a statewide sweep billed as an effort to combat voter fraud pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony charges and received six months of probation. Hubert Jack and Michael Anderson each… Continue reading

“Arizona Democrats to sue No Labels to block third-party challenge”

March 30, 2023, 6:41 amballot accessRick Hasen

WaPo: The Arizona Democratic Party will file a lawsuit Thursday against the state’s top election administrator and No Labels, seeking to reverse the moderate group’s recognition as a political party for the 2024 elections, according to Democratic officials. The lawsuit,… Continue reading

“Towards Proportional Representation for the U.S. House”

March 29, 2023, 1:36 pmalternative voting systems, legislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

New report: In Towards Proportional Representation for the U.S. House, Protect Democracy and Unite America examine a 1967 statute enacted by Congress—the Uniform Congressional District Act (UCDA)—that mandates the use of single-member districts for House elections; how the… Continue reading

“Why Sore Loser Laws Can’t Be Applied to Presidential Candidates”

March 29, 2023, 8:43 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Richard Winger at Smerconish: The spring 2023 Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy has an article, “How State ‘Sore-Loser’ Laws Make it Impossible for Trump to Run a Successful Third-Party Campaign If He Loses the Republican Primary.” The authors are four attorneys… Continue reading

California: “Shasta supervisors pursue hand count election plan, details remain unclear”

March 29, 2023, 7:32 amchicanery, election administration, voting technologyRick Hasen

Jefferson Public Radio: After ditching Dominion Voting Systems in January, Shasta County still doesn’t have a clear way to conduct elections. The county’s Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to try hand counting every ballot. Shasta County supervisors moved… Continue reading

“How to Protect American Democracy; U.S. Elections Are Still Vulnerable to Enemies Foreign and Domestic”

March 29, 2023, 6:50 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

Larry Norden and Derek Tisler in Foreign Affairs: Despite this outcome, it would be foolish to believe the danger has passed. Election deniers continue to work in some election offices around the country, and in 2022, they won more… Continue reading

“Republicans Face Setbacks in Push to Tighten Voting Laws on College Campuses”

March 29, 2023, 6:32 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: Alarmed over young people increasingly proving to be a force for Democrats at the ballot box, Republican lawmakers in a number of states have been trying to enact new obstacles to voting for college students. In Idaho, Republicans used… Continue reading

“Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race could be the beginning of the end for GOP dominance”

March 29, 2023, 6:30 amjudicial elections, redistrictingRick Hasen

Politico: Next week’s Supreme Court election in Wisconsin could be the beginning of the end of the GOP’s near-dominance in Wisconsin. With the exception of the governorship, Republicans have long had a lock on most levers of power in the… Continue reading

“Pence Must Testify to Jan. 6 Grand Jury, Judge Rules”

March 28, 2023, 7:56 pmelection subversion risk, legislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

NYT: A federal judge has ordered former Vice President Mike Pence to appear in front of a grand jury investigating former President Donald J. Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, largely sweeping aside two separate legal efforts by Mr.… Continue reading

“N.C. board removes election officials who refused to certify”

March 28, 2023, 7:52 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

AP: North Carolina’s state elections board on Tuesday removed two local election officials who had refused to certify their county’s 2022 results after officials determined they violated state law. The state board voted unanimously to dismiss Surry County elections secretary… Continue reading

“A Campaign Aide Didn’t Write That Email. A.I. Did.”

March 28, 2023, 7:49 pmcheap speechRick Hasen

NYT: The Democratic Party has begun testing the use of artificial intelligence to write first drafts of some fund-raising messages, appeals that often perform better than those written entirely by human beings. Fake A.I. images of Donald J. Trump getting arrested in… Continue reading

“‘Back to 1902’: Virginia Governor Revives Lifetime Ban on Voting”

March 28, 2023, 7:40 pmfelon votingRick Hasen

Bolts: Governor Glenn Youngkin just gave himself a lot more power to pick and choose Virginia voters. The Republican governor’s administration told state lawmakers in a letter last week that he was rescinding his predecessors’ policy of automatically restoring the… Continue reading

Wisconsin: “Dane County election review finds dozens of ineligible voters who cast ballots; A small number of cases shows why election officials say Wisconsin’s disorganized system for tracking those adjudicated ‘incompetent’ to vote needs a legislative fix.”

March 28, 2023, 7:22 amvoters with disabilitiesRick Hasen

PBS Wisconsin: In 2015, Mark Wake was in a serious motorcycle crash that put him in the hospital for 10 months with a severe brain injury. “I lost half my head,” he told Wisconsin Watch. He also lost his… Continue reading