“As First Republic Bank faltered, five members of Congress dumped their personal stock investments”

May 3, 2023, 3:58 pmethics investigationsJustin Levitt

That’s the lede from Raw Story. The piece goes on to state that “there’s no evidence that the lawmakers used information they obtained through their public service to inform their First Republic stock trades,” and four of the five (the… Continue reading

“The Impermissibility of Sex as a Voter Qualification”

May 3, 2023, 3:57 pmelection administration, election law and constitutional lawJustin Levitt

Looks like a fascinating paper posted on SSRN today by UVa 3L Holl Chaisson: Election officials across the country are turning away voters when they perceive a mismatch between the sex listed on the voter’s identification and the voter’s gender… Continue reading

Justice O’Connor created the framework and the heart of the language for Chief Justice Rehnquist’s concurring opinion in Bush v. Gore

May 3, 2023, 10:09 amBush v. Gore reflections, electoral collegeDerek Muller

Many of the papers of the late Justice John Paul Stevens have been released, including papers from Bush v. Gore. Over at CNN, Joan Biskupic has a four-page memorandum that Justice Sandra Day O’Connor circulated to the justices before oral… Continue reading

“Election-denying clerk ousted in recall: ‘Make Adams Township Boring Again’”

May 3, 2023, 7:20 amchicanery, election administration, election subversion risk, recall electionsJustin Levitt

Bridge Michigan has the unofficial results on yesterday’s recall election of a Michigan town clerk: Voters in deeply conservative Adams Township on Tuesday night rejected elections clerk Stephanie Scott, ousting the Republican official who questioned the accuracy of her own… Continue reading

“Bill would require disclosure of AI-generated content in political ads”

May 2, 2023, 4:08 pmcheap speech, election subversion riskJustin Levitt

The WaPo reports on Rep. Yvette Clarke’s bill, but it may be even more notable that the N.Y. Democrat called out a recent RNC ad as a model.

“Voter Registration in 2022 Highest in 20 Years for Congressional Elections”

May 2, 2023, 4:07 pmelection administration, voter registration, votingJustin Levitt

The Census Bureau released voting and registration toplines from the Current Population Survey today. [Serious data nerd voice] I’ll confess to a longstanding pet peeve with the way that these results are inevitably reported, including by the Bureau itself in… Continue reading

Young Latino voters will be vital to the outcome of the 2024 election

May 2, 2023, 4:05 pmpolitical equality, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

Brookings with a post on the “nuanced relationship between young Latinos and the dominant parties,” in their series on younger voters. With a very different focus on laws aimed at college voters, CNN also has a piece today on the… Continue reading

“Senate panel explores ethics standards for US Supreme Court as questions swirl”

May 2, 2023, 4:05 pmethics investigations, Supreme CourtJustin Levitt

Reuters on the Judiciary Committee’s hearing today.

“Bush v. Gore docs among new releases from Justice Stevens archives”

May 2, 2023, 4:04 pmBush v. Gore reflectionsJustin Levitt

The AP, NYT, NBC, and CNN each have different snippets (and takeaways) from the archival documents from Justice Stevens’ papers that were made public today.

“Texas Republicans want power to overturn Harris County elections over mishaps at the polls”

May 2, 2023, 4:03 pmelection administration, election subversion risk, legislation and legislaturesJustin Levitt

The Houston Chronicle reports on the 6th of 7 bills targeting Harris County to pass the Texas Senate. This one allows the appointed secretary of state to order a new election in a county with more than 2.7 million people… Continue reading

“Voting has gotten harder in Wisconsin. Organizers have found ways to help.”

May 2, 2023, 4:03 pmelection administration, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

Wisconsin Watch deploying the Cost of Voting Index to track changes over the past few decades.

“New Report: Restoring Voting Rights for People With Felony Convictions Can Improve Public Safety”

May 2, 2023, 4:02 pmfelon votingJustin Levitt

I’d missed this new research on recidivism rates from the Sentencing Project.

“Pritzker Calls for Campaign Finance Reform After Spending $323m on Campaigns”

May 2, 2023, 4:02 pmcampaign finance, judicial electionsJustin Levitt

This piece from Illinois Policy points out, among other things, that Illinois law prohibits any “single person” from donating more than $500K to a single campaign … and that both Pritzker’s campaign committee and his revocable trust donated the… Continue reading

“Billionaire backing effort to raise Ohio amendment threshold funded election deniers, Jan. 6 rally”

May 2, 2023, 4:01 pmdirect democracy, legislation and legislaturesJustin Levitt

The Ohio Capital Journal notes that one of the ostensible reasons for raising Ohio’s threshold to pass citizen-initiated constitutional amendments is to “keep powerful out-of-state interests from meddling with the Ohio Constitution” … and that a significant donor to the… Continue reading