“Election certification delays few, but a ‘test run’ for 2024”

November 30, 2022, 7:45 amchicanery, election subversion riskRick Hasen

AP: Before November, election officials prepared for the possibility that Republicans who embraced former President Donald Trump’s lies about voter fraud would challenge the verdict of voters by refusing to certify the results. Three weeks after the end of voting,… Continue reading

Ninth Circuit upholds California’s two-step recall process

November 30, 2022, 6:10 amcourt decisions, recall electionsDerek Muller

The Ninth Circuit issued its decision in Clark v. Weber, approving California’s two-step recall process. In the recall, voters first vote “yes” or “no” on the recall; after that, they may vote on a new candidate for governor, but… Continue reading

“FEC scales back digital ad transparency rule after backlash”

November 29, 2022, 4:41 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Axios: Federal election regulators are scaling back a major digital ad transparency measure after an effort to speed it through the regulatory process drew intense internal and external pushback, records show. Why it matters: A little-noticed, two-word change to a… Continue reading

“Oath Keepers Leader Convicted of Sedition in Landmark Jan. 6 Case”

November 29, 2022, 2:44 pmelection subversion riskRick Hasen

NYT: Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, and one of his subordinates were convicted on Tuesday of seditious conspiracy as a jury found them guilty of seeking to keep former President Donald J. Trump in power… Continue reading

Greg Sargent: “New Trumpist threats in Arizona make electoral college reform urgent”

November 29, 2022, 1:00 pmelection subversion risk, electoral collegeRick Hasen

Greg Sargent WaPo column: At first glance, the spectacle of the Incredible Shrinking Kari Lake might be cause for optimism. Lake is contesting her loss in the Arizona governor’s race, but in so doing, she’s shriveling into an almost… Continue reading

“Pennsylvania county deadlocks on certifying election results”

November 29, 2022, 8:39 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

Philly Inquirer: Officials in a northeastern Pennsylvania county where paper shortages caused Election Day ballot problems deadlocked Monday on whether to report official vote tallies to the state, effectively preventing their certification of the results. Two Democratic members of the… Continue reading

“Trump Immunity Claim in 2020 Civil Rights Suit Rejected by Judge”

November 29, 2022, 8:37 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Bloomberg: Donald Trump can’t claim presidential immunity to avoid a lawsuit that accuses him of civil rights violations in his efforts to undermine the results of the 2020 election, a federal judge ruled Monday. Trump had argued that he was… Continue reading

“G.O.P.-Controlled County in Arizona Holds Up Election Results”

November 29, 2022, 8:28 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT reports.

“The Supreme Court Case That’s All About Donald Trump: Even if it’s not explicitly about him at all.”

November 29, 2022, 8:24 amlegislation and legislatures, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Quinta Jurecic on thie Moore v. Harper case in The Atlantic: Over the past several months, both the litigants and outside parties—known as amici curiae, or “friends of the court”—have filed a mountain of briefs hashing out these issues. These… Continue reading

A curious litigation strategy in the Cochise County certification dispute

November 29, 2022, 8:08 amelection subversion riskDerek Muller

On the heels of the Chochise County Board of Supervisors’ decision not to approve the county’s canvass, I noted yesterday that I expected a mandamus action filed in the Arizona Supreme Court. But I was wrong. Two actions were filed,… Continue reading

“County supervisors face intense public pressure to reject election results, but most certify anyway”

November 28, 2022, 6:27 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

Jen Fifield for VoteBeat: Lydia Abril placed a Bible on the podium, adjusted the microphone, and told the elected officials in front of her that she wanted to pass along a message from God. “Justice? You high and mighty politicians… Continue reading

“Was Election Denial a Passing Threat? Or Is It Here to Stay?”

November 28, 2022, 4:43 pmelection subversion riskRick Hasen

Blake Hounshell in the NYT: In the months before the midterm elections, a reporter for Time magazine asked Mark Finchem, the Republican nominee for secretary of state in Arizona, why he was so convinced that Donald Trump had won… Continue reading

Ethan Herenstein: “Can State Legislatures Exercise Federal Legislative Power? A Flaw in the Defense of the Independent State Legislature Theory”

November 28, 2022, 3:42 pmlegislation and legislatures, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

The following is a guest post from Ethan Herenstein of the Brennan Center: In their reply brief defending the independent state legislature theory (ISLT), the petitioners in Moore v. Harper doubled down on the assertion that when state legislatures… Continue reading

“State Dept says Salvadorans’ attempts to ‘directly influence’ a U.S. congressional election are ‘unacceptable'”

November 28, 2022, 3:07 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

NBC News: After winning re-election to her seat in the U.S. House, Norma Torres, a Democrat from California, issued a press release making a startling accusation: El Salvador President Nayib Bukele participated in “foreign election interference” in her race. Bukele,… Continue reading