“How AOC built a Democratic fundraising juggernaut”

August 26, 2025, 7:47 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

CNN: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is building a fundraising juggernaut that is rivaling some of the Democratic Party’s core infrastructure, prompting questions about both her future and the party’s. Small-dollar donations – contributions of less than $200 – are the lifeblood of… Continue reading

Unanimous Third Circuit Panel Holds Unconstitutional Pennsylvania Requirement to Discard Timely Received Mail-in Ballots That Have Wrong or Missing Dates

August 26, 2025, 7:39 amelection administrationRick Hasen

It’s an interesting case that finds only a minimal burden under the Anderson-Burdick balancing test but still finds the state law unconstitutional. Here, the date requirement on timely received ballots was found to serve no government interest. I expect the… Continue reading

“In Private Deal, the D.N.C. Covered $20 Million in Harris Bills Post-Election”

August 25, 2025, 5:08 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: Not long after Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election, her senior advisers and the Democratic National Committee struck a handshake deal. Ms. Harris still had bills piling up, and campaign officials had counted on raising more money during a… Continue reading

California: “Republicans again ask Supreme Court to stop Democratic redistricting”

August 25, 2025, 3:31 pmdirect democracy, redistrictingRick Hasen

At the Lectern: California Republicans today filed a second writ petition — Sanchez v. Weber — in the Supreme Court seeking to prevent the electorate from voting in November to temporarily redraw the state’s congressional districts. The court denied … Continue reading

Prominent NJ Academics Urge High Court to take Fusion Challenge

August 25, 2025, 1:31 pmpolitical parties, third partiesNew Jersey, state constitutionsTabatha Abu El-Haj

Three established Rutgers professors, one of them a former state attorney general, have written a joint op-ed in the New Jersey Monitor urging the state Supreme Court to take up In Re Malinowski and rule in favor of reviving the… Continue reading

“How China Influences Elections in America’s Biggest City”

August 25, 2025, 12:36 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: In New York City, social clubs backed by China undermined a congressional candidate who once challenged the regime on Chinese television. They helped unseat a state senator for attending a banquet with the president of Taiwan. And they condemned… Continue reading

“Plutocratic Democracy, Elon Musk, and the Limits of Campaign Finance Reform”

August 25, 2025, 12:34 pmcampaign finance, Plutocrats UnitedRick Hasen

Guy Charles and Frances Peale have posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming in Campaign Finance and the First Amendment, Lee C. Bollinger & Geoffrey R. Stone, Eds., 2025). Here is the abstract: Politicians appear to be increasingly dependent upon a… Continue reading

Number of Executive Orders/Year for Every President

August 25, 2025, 11:04 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

In preparing for a class on presidential powers I’ll be teaching this fall with Bob Bauer, I made this chart of the average number of executive orders per year each President has issued over the course of their presidency. The… Continue reading

“District Populations and Partisan Bias”

August 25, 2025, 10:23 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Barry Burden and Veronica Judson have written this article for Legislative Studies Quarterly. Here is the abstract: We investigate whether the differing population sizes of legislative districts affect the ability to engage in partisan gerrymandering. We conjecture that larger populations… Continue reading

“How the Electoral College Could Tilt Further From Democrats”

August 25, 2025, 7:40 amelectoral collegeRick Hasen

NYT: The year is 2032. Studying the Electoral College map, a Democratic presidential candidate can no longer plan to sweep New Hampshire, Minnesota and the “blue wall” battlegrounds of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and win the White House. A victory… Continue reading

“How California bluffed its way into a redistricting war with Trump”

August 25, 2025, 7:37 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Politico: When word got out that Texas might undertake an extraordinary mid-decade redistricting at Donald Trump’s behest, a handful of top California Democratic operatives floated an idea to Rep. Zoe Lofgren: Could California respond in kind? Lofgren, the chair of… Continue reading

“Of Course the Voting Rights Act Would Die at This Moment”

August 25, 2025, 7:30 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Linda Greenhouse NYT column.

“Who Has the Right to Vote in America?”

August 25, 2025, 7:15 amReal Right to VoteRick Hasen

You can watch this episode of the PBS Series, Civics Made Easy with Ben Sheehan in which Josh Douglas and I are both interviewed about the U.S. Constitution, state constitutions and voting rights. You can find the full series here.

“How Did State Count More Kauaʻi Ballots Than County Said It Delivered?”

August 25, 2025, 7:09 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

Troubling story out of Hawaii, hat tip to Charles Stewart for flagging this: The next meeting of the Hawaiʻi Elections Commission on Wednesday is expected to be dominated by recent findings of discrepancies in the number of drop box and… Continue reading