“Small Potatoes? Not at All”

April 11, 2023, 7:06 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Jerry Goldfeder: A hush-money payment is obviously not as significant as scheming to find 11,780 votes, conjuring up fake electors, or inciting a mob to storm the U.S. Capitol, but campaign finance laws are just as essential to the integrity… Continue reading

“Trump Ignores Deadline for Personal Financial Disclosure to F.E.C.”

April 10, 2023, 5:49 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

NYT: Former President Donald J. Trump has a minor addition to his mounting pile of legal challenges after he failed to meet the deadline to disclose his personal financial holdings. But the threatened initial penalty — a meager $200 —… Continue reading

“Printer glitches in Ariz. election not due to malfeasance, review finds”

April 10, 2023, 4:00 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

WaPo: The combination of heavier paper and longer ballots was responsible for problems tabulating votes at dozens of polling places in Maricopa County, Ariz., during last November’s midterm elections, according to a report released Monday. The report was prepared… Continue reading

“Erosion, Backsliding, or Abuse: Three Metaphors for Democratic Decline”

April 10, 2023, 3:55 pmcheap speechRick Hasen

Thomas Keck review essay in Law & Social Inquiry reviewing these three books: Rosalind Dixon and David Landau, Abusive Constitutional Borrowing: Legal Globalization and the Subversion of Liberal Democracy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021). Stephen M. Feldman, Pack the Court:… Continue reading

“Election officials have ideas for stopping a 2024 crisis before it even starts”

April 10, 2023, 3:54 pmelection administration, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Politico: Election officials have one major goal ahead of 2024: Make Democracy Boring Again. Election administration has faced an unprecedented amount of scrutiny — and tumult — since the 2020 election. Officials have faced death threats and unprecedented public harassment… Continue reading

“The Philadelphia Board of Ethics just sued a super PAC supporting Jeff Brown for mayor”

April 10, 2023, 12:01 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Philadelphia Inquirer: The Philadelphia Board of Ethics on Monday sued a super PAC and nonprofit supporting Jeff Brown’s bid for mayor, accusing him of coordinating with them, a violation of the city’s campaign finance law. Citing an “extensive and… Continue reading

Watch Archived Video of UCLA Law’s Safeguarding Democracy Project March 17 Conference: “Can American Democracy Survive the 2024 Elections?”

April 10, 2023, 7:55 amelection administration, election subversion riskRick Hasen

On March 17, 2023, UCLA Law’s Safeguarding Democracy Project convened a conference, “Can American Democracy Survive the 2024 Elections?” We had an outstanding set of panels with leaders in law, media, politics, and tech. You can now watch videos of… Continue reading

“Twitter fails to report some political ads after promising transparency”

April 10, 2023, 7:31 amcampaigns, cheap speechRick Hasen

Politico: Elon Musk took over Twitter last fall with a pledge of transparency for the social media giant — but so far political advertising on the platform has been anything but forthcoming. Twitter has failed to disclose some political… Continue reading

“Trump’s response to criminal charges revives election lies”

April 10, 2023, 7:27 amchicanery, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

AP: Legally, the most important words former President Donald Trump said after he was charged with 34 felonies by the Manhattan District Attorney last week were “not guilty.” But, politically, the most significant may be “election interference.” Trump’s repetition of… Continue reading

“Hounded by baseless voter fraud allegations, an entire county’s election staff quits in Virginia”

April 10, 2023, 7:22 amelection administration, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Jane Timm for NBC News: Lindsey Taylor loved running elections here. The previous registrar had spent nearly three decades in the job, and Taylor, 37, hoped to do the same when she was hired in 2019. She loved her staff… Continue reading

“The Wisconsin Supreme Court Election: A Decidedly Mixed Outcome for Democracy”

April 10, 2023, 7:19 amjudicial electionsRick Hasen

Kevin Johnson and Alexander Vanderklipp for IVN.

Fox News defamation suit settles

April 9, 2023, 6:16 pmchicanery, election subversion riskJustin Levitt

No, not those suits. This is the settlement of a separate defamation suit by Venezuelan businessman Majed Khalil, based on comments on Lou Dobbs’s show on Dec. 10, 2020. Khalil was roped into the Dominion/Smartmatic conspiracy nonsense, but… Continue reading

It’s tricky for different sovereigns to run related investigations at the same time

April 9, 2023, 3:02 pmDepartment of Justice, election subversion riskJustin Levitt

And the NYT walks through some of the practicalities with respect to the Trump investigations by the special federal prosecutor in DC and county prosecutors in Georgia. More on the Georgia case here.