“The Stakes in the Supreme Court Mail Ballot Case; It is a weak case, but it is best seen as part of a larger strategic effort to change how election rules are made.”

November 13, 2025, 4:47 pmabsentee ballots, election administration, Supreme Court, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Bob Bauer on the Watson cert. grant. See also my earlier Slate piece on the case.

“Unilateral Election Administration”

November 13, 2025, 12:26 pmUncategorizedNicholas Stephanopoulos

John Martin has posted this article, which is forthcoming in the NYU Law Review and was awarded the AALS Election Law Section’s Distinguished Scholarship Award: Election administration in the United States is fragmented. Instead of having one uniform system,… Continue reading

“Will People Trust Voting by Phone? Alaska Is Going to Find Out.”

November 13, 2025, 7:34 amvoting technologyRick Hasen

NYT: The largest city in Alaska is about to undertake an experiment that feels both inevitable and impossibly futuristic in an era of pervasive mistrust toward elections: allowing all voters to cast ballots from their smartphones. Anchorage, home to… Continue reading

Tabatha Abu el-Haj is Primary ELB Blogger the Week of November 17

November 13, 2025, 7:25 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Send your tips and comments her way. Thanks Tabatha!

“Kansas Redistricting Was on the Fast Track. Then Some Republicans Said No.”

November 12, 2025, 7:25 amredistrictingRick Hasen

NYT: The top Republicans in Kansas were ready to join President Trump’s redistricting push and redraw the state’s political map to deliver another seat in Congress to Republicans. Democrats feared that a special session to pass new district lines… Continue reading

“Johnson to Seat Grijalva, Seven Weeks After She Was Elected”

November 12, 2025, 7:21 amchicanery, legislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

NYT: Speaker Mike Johnson plans to swear in Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva of Arizona as a member of Congress on Wednesday, according to his office, 50 days after her election, as the House returns from an extended recess. Ms. Grijalva, a… Continue reading

“Texas Latino civic group sues to block AG Ken Paxton from shutting it down”

November 12, 2025, 7:19 amchicanery, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Texas Tribune: Jolt Initiative, a nonprofit that aims to increase civic participation among Latinos, is suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to block his efforts to shut them down. Paxton announced Monday that he was seeking to revoke the nonprofit’s… Continue reading

At NYU Democracy Project, an International Perspective on Immigration

November 12, 2025, 5:10 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

Niels Petersen is Professor of Public Law, International Law, and EU Law at the University of Münster. His essay is titled Supporting Democracy by Fixing the Asylum System: The Alternative for Germany (AfD), a right-wing populist party, was founded… Continue reading

“Spending Bill Would Pave Way for Senators to Sue Over Phone Searches”

November 11, 2025, 3:40 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: A spending package expected to be approved as part of a deal to reopen the government would create a wide legal avenue for senators to sue for as much as half a million dollars each when federal investigators… Continue reading

My New One at Slate: “The Supreme Court Just Took a Scary Voting Case That Has Trump Salivating. He Might Be Disappointed.”

November 11, 2025, 11:00 amabsentee ballots, election subversion risk, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: President Donald Trump’s obsession with mail-in balloting reached the Supreme Court on Monday through a bonkers 5th Circuit opinion written by Trump appointee (and Trump Supreme Court auditioner) Andrew… Continue reading

“Give Parents the Vote” and Responses

November 11, 2025, 7:51 amUncategorizedNicholas Stephanopoulos

The Notre Dame Law Review has published Steve Sachs and Josh Kleinfeld’s article advocating parents voting on behalf of their children, responses from me and from Joey Fishkin, and a reply from Sachs and Kleinfeld. Here are links to the… Continue reading

“Judge’s ruling likely to give Democrats a congressional seat in Utah”

November 11, 2025, 7:17 amredistrictingRick Hasen

WaPo: A Utah judge late Monday rejected a congressional map that state Republican lawmakers had passed last month and ordered the adoption of a new map before next year’s midterm elections that is likely to give Democrats a U.S. House… Continue reading

Register for Free Safeguarding Democracy Project Webinar on November 18: “The Supreme Court, the Voting Rights Act, and the 2026 Elections”

November 11, 2025, 7:15 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Tuesday, November 18 The Supreme Court, the Voting Rights Act, and the 2026 Elections (webinar) 12:15pm-1:15pm, PTRegister here.Samantha Blencke, Native American Rights Fund, Ellen Katz, University of Michigan Law School, and Deuel Ross, Legal Defense FundRichard L. Hasen, moderator… Continue reading

The Danger of the Trump Pardons is About the Next Attempt at Election Subversion

November 11, 2025, 7:13 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

As I told the AP: While the pardons may have no immediate legal impact, experts warned they send a dangerous message for future elections. “It is a complete abdication of the responsibility of the federal government to ensure we… Continue reading