Feb. 24 Seton Hall Conference: “Ballots and Democracy: A New Scholarly Agenda”

February 22, 2023, 7:33 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Great lineup for this conference: This symposium will focus on the relationship between ballots and democracy. Most election law experts understand that the way our ballots look can significantly influence how people vote. This Symposium will bring together activists, scholars,… Continue reading

“Mexico Hobbles Election Agency That Helped End One-Party Rule”

February 22, 2023, 7:24 pmcomparative election law, election subversion riskRick Hasen

NYT: Mexican lawmakers passed sweeping measures overhauling the nation’s electoral agency on Wednesday, dealing a blow to the institution that oversees voting and that helped push the country away from one-party rule two decades ago. The changes, which will… Continue reading

“How One City Ended Prison Gerrymandering”

February 22, 2023, 11:02 amfelon votingRick Hasen

Bolts: The Howard R. Young Correctional Institution sits between a creek and Interstate 495 in Wilmington, Delaware. For the last ten years, the prison’s 1,281 residents were counted as constituents of Wilmington’s third city council district. But when local officials… Continue reading

“Election Integrity Unit’s latest pivot has both sides in Arizona questioning whether it should exist at all”

February 22, 2023, 11:00 amThe Voting WarsRick Hasen

Votebeat: Every year since 2019, Arizona lawmakers have instructed the state’s attorney general to spend a half-million dollars to staff an “election fraud unit,” with no further instructions. Democrats accused former Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, of using the… Continue reading

Grand Jury Foreperson Loose Lips Risks Georgia Election Subversion Prosecutions

February 22, 2023, 10:58 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Robert Costa: News: CBS News has learned that lawyers close to several GOP witnesses in Fulton Co. investigation are preparing to move to quash any possible indictments by DA based on the public statements by the forewoman of the… Continue reading

“Arizona’s top prosecutor concealed records debunking election fraud claims; Newly released documents show how Republican Mark Brnovich publicized an incomplete account of his office’s probe of the 2020 election in Maricopa County”

February 22, 2023, 8:09 amelection subversion risk, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

WaPo: Nearly a year after the 2020 election, Arizona’s then-attorney general Mark Brnovich launched an investigation into voting in the state’s largest county that quickly consumed more than 10,000 hours of his staff ‘s time. Investigators prepared a report in… Continue reading

“Mississippi Racial Gerrymandering Case Dismissed in U.S. Supreme Court”

February 22, 2023, 7:57 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Mississippi Free Press: The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear Buck v. Reeves, a case alleging that the state’s congressional maps are racially gerrymandered. The decision affirms that Mississippi is no longer required to get federal preclearance for… Continue reading

“Supreme Court Seems Wary of Limiting Protections for Social Media Platforms”

February 22, 2023, 7:41 amcheap speechRick Hasen

NYT: In a case with the potential to alter the very structure of the internet, the Supreme Court did not appear ready on Tuesday to limit a law that protects social media platforms from lawsuits over their users’ posts. In… Continue reading

“Lawyers in Backsliding Democracy”

February 22, 2023, 7:38 amelection law biz, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Scott Cummings has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Article examines the role of lawyers in democratic backsliding. To explain the relation of lawyers to backsliding, the Article presents a theory of professional fissuring, in which… Continue reading

Wisconsin: “Janet Protasiewicz, Daniel Kelly advance in high stakes, high-spending Supreme Court race”

February 22, 2023, 7:34 amjudicial electionsRick Hasen

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz and former Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly emerged Tuesday as the two winners of a record-setting primary fight to compete for a seat on the state’s highest court that will decide whether the… Continue reading

“Timothy J. Heaphy Led the House Jan. 6 Investigation. Here’s What He Learned.”

February 21, 2023, 4:54 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: Timothy J. Heaphy, the former U.S. attorney who served as the top staff investigator for the special House committee that scrutinized the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, knew going in that the inquiry would be important. But it… Continue reading

“Jury in Georgia Trump Inquiry Recommended Multiple Indictments, Forewoman Says”

February 21, 2023, 12:29 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: A special grand jury that investigated election interference by former President Donald J. Trump and his allies in Georgia recommended indictments of multiple people on a range of charges in its report, most of which remains sealed, the forewoman… Continue reading

“Trump Spent $10 Million From His PAC on His Legal Bills Last Year”

February 21, 2023, 12:18 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

NYT: Former President Donald J. Trump, who throughout his business career had a reputation for not paying lawyers, spent roughly $10 million from his political action committee on his own legal fees last year, federal election filings show. The money… Continue reading

#ELB20th: Ellen Katz: Don’t Change A Thing?

February 21, 2023, 7:43 am#ELB20th, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

The following is a guest post from Ellen Katz, part of the #ELB20th Anniversary retrospective: Don’t Change A Thing? I found myself humming this early 80s INXS song shortly after receiving Rick’s kind invitation to post something marking the… Continue reading