“Newsom threatens Texas over power grab. He’s blowing smoke”

July 17, 2025, 4:37 amredistrictingDan Tokaji

Mark Barabak in LAT: The fact is, voters took the power of political line-drawing away from the governor and his fellow lawmakers, for good reason, and it’s not like Newsom can unilaterally take that power back — no matter… Continue reading

“Spurned U.S. Attorney Clings to Job by Being Appointed His Own Assistant”

July 17, 2025, 4:34 amDepartment of JusticeDan Tokaji

NYT: President Trump’s embattled interim U.S. attorney in Albany, N.Y., is back leading the office under an unusual new title, just days after a panel of judges refused to appoint him to lead the office permanently. According to a… Continue reading

Redistricting for National Partisan Fairness

July 16, 2025, 7:28 amUncategorizedNicholas Stephanopoulos

With mid-decade re-redistricting on the horizon in Ohio and Texas, I wanted to re-up this Slate column I wrote with Aaron Goldzimer a few years back. Over the last two elections, the U.S. House has been exceptionally fair, in aggregate.… Continue reading

“DOJ hits states with broad requests for voter rolls, election data”

July 16, 2025, 5:16 amDepartment of Justice, voter registration, voting technologyDan Tokaji

Washington Post reports: The Trump administration and its allies have launched a multipronged effort to gather data on voters and inspect voting equipment, sparking concern among local and state election officials about federal interference ahead ofthe 2026 midterms. The… Continue reading

“Republicans renew a bid to remove noncitizens from the census tally behind voting maps”

July 16, 2025, 4:59 amcensus litigation, redistrictingDan Tokaji

NPR: Republicans in Congress are reviving a controversial push to alter a key set of census numbers that are used to determine how presidents and members of the U.S. House of Representatives are elected. Ratified after the Civil War, … Continue reading

Texas Democrats Consider Walkout, as Trump Presses for 5 New Republican Districts

July 16, 2025, 4:48 amredistrictingDan Tokaji

NYT reports on the latest from Texas: National Democratic leaders are encouraging state Democrats in the Texas House to consider walking out of a special legislative session this month to block Republicans from redrawing the state’s congressional maps ahead of… Continue reading

“Federal judge blocks Maine’s voter-approved law capping donations to super PACs”

July 16, 2025, 4:34 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

Maine Public reports: The ballot initiative approved by Maine voters last year would set a $5,000 annual limit on donations to political action committees that make “independent expenditures” on candidate campaigns. Supporters argue that the cap is needed to… Continue reading

Issue One, “Crypto Craziness”

July 16, 2025, 4:29 amcampaign finance, lobbyingDan Tokaji

Issue One has this report, finding “12 times during Trump’s second term that Trump and his administration have generally made life easier for the controversial industry that has invested heavily in the political influence game.“

Tribes Ask Supreme Court to Put on Hold Eighth Circuit Ruling Holding that Private Plaintiffs Cannot Sue to Enforce Key Part of Voting Rights Act

July 15, 2025, 1:33 pmVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

Here is the petition. Justice Kavanaugh has set July 22 for a response from North Dakota.

Now Available: 2025 Supplement to Lowenstein, Hasen, Tokaji & Stephanopoulos, Election Law–Cases and Materials (7th Edition)

July 15, 2025, 7:51 amelection law biz, pedagogy, Supreme CourtDan Tokaji

You can download the free Supplement here, current through the Supreme Court’s 2024-25 term. New to this Supplement is an overview of 2024 election litigation, including the lawsuits over the North Carolina Supreme Court election. The Supplement also includes… Continue reading

Cuomo Continues Campaign for Mayor, Despite Primary Loss

July 15, 2025, 5:51 amballot access, third partiesDan Tokaji

WSJ: Andrew Cuomo isn’t giving up yet on his political comeback. The former governor plans to mount a competitive campaign in the general election for mayor of New York City after his surprise loss in the Democratic primary to Zohran… Continue reading

“Crypto industry amasses colossal war chest for elections”

July 15, 2025, 5:15 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

Politico: “A super PAC group funded by cryptocurrency companies will enter the upcoming midterm elections with more than $140 million in the bank, according to new fundraising data shared first with POLITICO — a mammoth sum that now looms… Continue reading

“Maine Supreme Judicial Court upholds voter ID ballot question language”

July 15, 2025, 5:12 amdirect democracy, voter idDan Tokaji

Maine Morning Star: Maine’s highest court has OK’d the language of a voter identification referendum question that highlights other substantial changes the reform would make to state voting laws…. The Dinner Table PAC launched the campaign in April 2024… Continue reading

DC Council Funds Ranked-Choice Voting

July 15, 2025, 5:01 amalternative voting systemsDan Tokaji

WaPo: “By a vote of 8-4, the council agreed to fund ranked-choice voting in the budget, implementing one part of Initiative 83 that voters passed last year, though they declined to fund the other portion allowing independents to vote… Continue reading