Monthly Archives: July 2025

USC Report on California’s 2024 Turnout Drop

July 22, 2025, 10:17 amvotingDan Tokaji

From the Center for Inclusive Democracy: After historically high turnout in the 2020 presidential election amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2024 presidential election saw a decline in turnout across California. Despite the hopeful expectations of many that the voter… Continue reading

“How Democrats might stop the Ohio GOP from gerrymandering again”

July 22, 2025, 10:13 amredistrictingDan Tokaji

The Downballot: “Ohio must pass a new congressional map this year, but Democrats are threatening to qualify a referendum for the ballot that could stop Republicans from further gerrymandering the state’s already skewed districts.”

“Kenneth Chesebro and the Ethics of Election Subversion”

July 22, 2025, 8:57 amchicanery, election law bizRick Hasen

Sung Hui Kim has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Article examines the role of attorney Kenneth Chesebro in orchestrating the “fake electors plot” following the 2020 U.S. presidential election. It traces Chesebro’s transformation from a… Continue reading

Brennan Center: “Homeland Security’s ‘SAVE’ Program Exacerbates Risks to Voters”

July 22, 2025, 7:28 amfraudulent fraud squad, voter registrationDan Tokaji

Jasleen Singh and Spencer Reynolds: The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or “SAVE,” program was designed to help states verify the citizenship and immigration status of people applying for government benefits…. But SAVE’s results — sometimes based on incomplete… Continue reading

“Trump Admin Defying Court By Stonewalling on Anti-Voting Order, Plaintiffs Say”

July 22, 2025, 4:59 amabsentee ballots, Department of Justice, Election Assistance Commission, voter registrationDan Tokaji

Democracy Docket: The Trump administration is defying a court order by refusing to say how federal agencies may be implementing President Donald Trump’s sweeping anti-voting executive order, pro-voting groups and Democrats alleged in a filing Friday. Among the order’s… Continue reading

“Texas Republicans Look to Jam Democrats With Vote on Redistricting”

July 22, 2025, 4:52 amredistrictingDan Tokaji

NYT: “Republicans in the Texas Legislature are planning to hold off on voting on measures to address the state’s deadly July 4 flooding until after they approve a partisan redistricting of Texas’ U.S. House boundaries, hoping to thwart Democrats’… Continue reading

“NC county election boards weren’t allowed to meet for a month. State Chairman says no harm done”

July 22, 2025, 4:49 amelection administrationDan Tokaji

NC Newsline: North Carolina’s county election boards have not been able to meet for about a month, requiring the state Board of Elections at its meeting Monday to allow newly appointed officials to make some overdue decisions about upcoming… Continue reading

“Jim Jordan subpoenas DOJ prosecutor who helped investigate Donald Trump”

July 22, 2025, 4:43 amDepartment of Justice, election subversion riskDan Tokaji

Politico: “The Ohio Republican sent the subpoena to Thomas Windom, former senior assistant special counsel who worked under then-special counsel Jack Smith. Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland had appointed Smith to lead the Justice Department’s cases around Trump’s retention of… Continue reading

“Why Can Trump Sue You, But You Can’t Sue Him?”

July 22, 2025, 4:40 amauthoritarian threats in US, Supreme CourtDan Tokaji

Ankush Khardori in Politico Magazine: The Supreme Court has been steadily building up an extraordinary level of immunity for presidents, on both civil and criminal fronts. And Trump has benefited from — and exploited — the law like no… Continue reading

Congressional Freethought Caucus Asks IRS to Reconsider Decision to Allow Church Endorsements of Candidates

July 22, 2025, 4:33 amtax law and election lawDan Tokaji

Here’s the letter opposing the proposed consent decree in National Religious Broadcasters Association et al v. Long, arguing that it adopts a “stunningly inaccurate reinterpretation of the Johnson Amendment.”

“5 years after Ohio’s $60M bribery scandal, critics say more could be done to prevent a repeat”

July 22, 2025, 4:22 ambribery, campaign financeDan Tokaji

AP: Five years after a $60 million bribery scheme funded by FirstEnergy Corp. came to light in Ohio, expert observers say the resulting prosecutions, lawsuits, penalties and legislation haven’t led to enough change and accountability to prevent politicians and… Continue reading

“Trump Posts Fake Video Showing Obama Arrest”

July 21, 2025, 10:09 amUncategorizedDan Tokaji

NYT: “President Trump reposted a fake video showing former President Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office, as Trump administration officials continue to accuse Mr. Obama of trying to harm Mr. Trump’s campaign during the 2016 election, and… Continue reading

Survey of the Performance of American Elections

July 21, 2025, 10:01 amabsentee ballots, election administrationDan Tokaji

You can find the 2024 report from Charles Stewart’s Election Data and Science Lab at MIT here. A few highlights from the report’s Executive Summary: In 2024, a total of 10,200 registered voters participated in the survey conducted… Continue reading

North Dakota Legislative Council’s Bizarre Understanding of Redistricting Ruling May Have Led to Justice Kavanaugh’s Administrative Stay in Eighth Amendment Voting Rights Act (Private Right of Action) Case

July 21, 2025, 7:58 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

As I noted a few days ago, Justice Kavanaugh put on hold via an administrative stay an Eighth Circuit case concerning whether private plaintiffs have the right to sue to enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The answer… Continue reading