“Georgia Grand Jury’s Probe of Donald Trump Nears End”

December 17, 2022, 7:38 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

WSJ: A criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump‘s efforts to overturn his election defeat in Georgia has produced a flurry of activity in the last month, with several high-profile witnesses appearing before a special grand jury that is… Continue reading

Arizona: “Judge rejects Finchem’s lawsuit seeking new secretary of state election; request for sanctions OK’d”

December 17, 2022, 7:26 amfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Arizona Republic: A judge Friday evening dismissed Rep. Mark Finchem’s lawsuit seeking a do-over of the race for Arizona secretary of state and affirmed Adrian Fontes as winner of the Nov. 8 election. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa… Continue reading

“Big Cities in Swing States Saw Declines in Midterm Voting”

December 17, 2022, 7:23 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

This is from a WSJ piece, which is paywalled. A few excerpts: In Detroit, about 22,600 fewer voters came to the polls than in the 2018 midterm election, a nearly 12% decline. Philadelphia tallied about 55,300 fewer voters than four… Continue reading

“Justice Dept. Examines Emails from Trump Lawyers in Fake Elector Inquiry”

December 16, 2022, 2:58 pmelection subversion riskRick Hasen

NYT: Federal prosecutors have examined more than 100,000 documents seized from the email accounts of three lawyers associated with former President Donald J. Trump in a continuing investigation into the roles they played in a wide-ranging scheme to help Mr.… Continue reading

“Georgia’s Racial Turnout Gap Grew in 2022”

December 16, 2022, 2:57 pmVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

Brennan Center: As state-by-state turnout data becomes available after the midterms, it’s clear that we remain in a period of high voter participation. Current estimates from the U.S. Elections Project suggest that turnout in the 2022 election was just a… Continue reading

“Voter ID, partisan gerrymandering struck down in NC rulings just before court flips to GOP”

December 16, 2022, 11:37 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

News and Observer: The North Carolina Supreme Court issued two important rulings in voting rights cases Friday, on gerrymandering and voter ID. Both rulings found that Republican lawmakers had acted unconstitutionally to diminish the influence of Democratic voters —… Continue reading

“House Republicans who opposed 2020 electoral votes paid no price”

December 16, 2022, 7:42 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

WaPo: In the hours after a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, hoping to block Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential win and retain Donald Trump as president, more than 130 Republican members of the House voted to do precisely that. The… Continue reading

“Trump reinvents ‘rigged’ election myth around Twitter allegations”

December 16, 2022, 7:38 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

WaPo: Former president Donald Trump is back to leading Republicans in cries of election “fraud,” but what he is referring to has almost entirely changed. When Trump suggested in an online post earlier this month that the Constitution could be … Continue reading

“Jan. 6 Panel to Consider Criminal Referrals Against Trump and Allies in Final Session”

December 16, 2022, 7:35 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol plans on Monday to consider issuing criminal referrals against former President Donald J. Trump and his top allies during a final meeting as it prepares to release a… Continue reading

“New York moves to ban ‘independence’ from party ballot lines to reduce confusion”

December 16, 2022, 7:34 amballot accessRick Hasen

State of Politics: At the height of its power, the Independence Party in New York had registered more than 400,000 voters in the state. For years, political observers, elected officials and candidates suspected many of those voters were duped… Continue reading

“After The 2022 Midterms, Do Americans Trust Elections?”

December 15, 2022, 6:17 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

New from the Yankelovich Center at UCSD: Jennifer Gaudette, Seth Hill, Thad Kousser, and Mackenzie Lockhart, UC San DiegoMindy Romero, USC Center for Inclusive Democracy The closely contested 2020 presidential race was followed by unsubstantiated allegations of vote fraud and… Continue reading

“Political Violence and the 2022 Elections”

December 15, 2022, 3:22 pmelection subversion riskRick Hasen

Important analysis from Rachel Kleinfield: The midterm election period proved mercifully free from violence and drama, following months of concern from democracy organizations and even the Department of Homeland Security. While most experts did not expect Election Day violence (which… Continue reading

Cert Petition Filed Against Texas Social Media Law That Would Require Private Websites to Carry Politicians’ Political Speech

December 15, 2022, 3:02 pmcheap speechRick Hasen

Read it here.

“Judge Luttig Hopeful on Updates to Electoral Count Act”

December 15, 2022, 11:53 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NLJ: A former federal appeals judge has been working behind the scenes for months to help the country avoid another Jan. 6 attack, and he expects that effort to pass Congress next week. “You had [former President Donald] Trump leading… Continue reading