“Chicago Sets Single-Day Early Voting Record Monday as Severe Weather Could Loom on Election Day”

April 4, 2023, 7:53 amelection administrationJustin Levitt

Folks in many regions of the country understand the impact of weather on election day (and the reasons not to rely on just one day). Looks like it could be rough in parts of Chicago this evening.

Democratic, Republican fundraising for election litigation tops $154 million in 2021-22 cycle, 30% increase over 2020 presidential cycle

April 3, 2023, 1:28 pmcampaign financeDerek Muller

I’ve chronicled how the 2015 “Cromnibus” bill appears to have contributed to a sharp increase in spending on election litigation. The bill allowed additional contributions to “election recounts and contests and other legal proceedings,” above and beyond individual candidate campaign… Continue reading

Unchartered territory

April 3, 2023, 12:21 pmchicanery, election subversion riskJustin Levitt

Intriguing. In the California State Bar’s disciplinary action against John Eastman, Eastman has attempted to designate retired Judge Janice Rogers Brown as an expert “regarding her opinion that the California State Bar seems to be moving into unchartered [sic]… Continue reading

Lordy, I hope there are tapes

April 3, 2023, 12:08 pmchicaneryJustin Levitt

AP reports: audio recordings from press interviews with former Texas election officials about LBJ’s infamous “Box 13” are now posted publicly on the LBJ Presidential Library’s archival site.

“Rare ‘corpse flower’ to stink up NYC for first time in years”

April 3, 2023, 11:02 amcampaign finance, chicaneryJustin Levitt

The Amorphophallus Titanum – the one with the flower that smells like rotting meat – is apparently set to display its 24-hour blossom in NYC this week. Pundits, just when you thought you were running thin on metaphoric ledes for… Continue reading

“In Trump case, experts see echoes of failed case against Sen. John Edwards”

April 3, 2023, 11:02 amcampaign finance, chicaneryJustin Levitt

Context from the WaPo. More context: keep in mind that nobody other than the grand jury and the DA’s office has actually seen the charges in the Trump case yet.

Citizens United + Trump payoff = clickbait

April 3, 2023, 11:01 amcampaign finance, chicaneryJustin Levitt

In my first academic article, I noted that the Citizens United case seemed to have taken on the perceived sins of a whole line of campaign finance jurisprudence — and more broadly, democratic discontent. That is, it sometimes seemed… Continue reading

“Mega donors fuel record-shattering $45M Wisconsin Supreme Court race”

April 3, 2023, 11:00 amcampaign finance, judicial electionsJustin Levitt

There’s no shortage of stories today about the money blitz for Tuesday’s state supreme court election. Wisconsin Watch has the following graph:

“Voters swipe right for Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court election”

April 3, 2023, 10:59 amcampaignsJustin Levitt

One thing not dramatically contributing to the spending totals: canvassing via dating app.

“Voters with disabilities often overlooked in voting battles”

April 3, 2023, 10:58 amelection administration, voters with disabilitiesJustin Levitt

The AP with an update focused on Wisconsin and Chicago, given the pending state supreme court and mayoral runoff elections.

County boards and hand counts

April 3, 2023, 10:55 amelection administration, election subversion risk, voting technologyJustin Levitt

There’s been ample publicity about the conspiracy-fueled decision in Shasta County, CA to hand-count election results (more here), and a similar truncated effort in Cochise County, AZ. (Aside from the fact that tallies will take far… Continue reading

State enforcement of 14th Amd. insurrection clause

April 3, 2023, 10:54 amelection law and constitutional law, election subversion riskJustin Levitt

Free Speech for People and Professor Gerard Magliocca out with a new blog post and report on state enforcement of section 3 of the 14th Amendment, prohibiting those who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the United States from… Continue reading

Shareholder resolutions on disclosure of lobbying and political activity

April 3, 2023, 10:53 amcampaign finance, lobbyingJustin Levitt

Lindsey Stewart at Morningstar has this post at the HLS Forum on Corporate Governance, linking to this full report. Both have some intriguing data on the way that the different mega-asset managers have been voting recently on shareholder resolutions… Continue reading

Textualism and 1874

April 3, 2023, 10:51 amstatutory interpretationJustin Levitt

Should some older statutes be getting a radical makeover? On Thursday last week, a Fifth Circuit panel released a decision on qualified immunity. Judge Don Willett, a frequent critic of the doctrine, wrote for the majority … and then separately… Continue reading