“How states are preparing to head off an election certification crisis in November”

August 22, 2024, 3:15 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Votebeat: New rules in Georgia governing how local officials finalize vote totals have some election watchdogs worried that loyalists of former President Donald Trump could trigger a crisis if he loses the state in November, by abusing their authority… Continue reading

Breaking: Supreme Court Issues Split Emergency Order in Arizona Case; CJ Roberts and J. Kavanaugh Cast Deciding Votes to Allow AZ to Bar from Registering Those Who Use State Form and Don’t Provide Documentary Proof of Citizenship [UPDATED]

August 22, 2024, 12:17 pmSupreme CourtRick Hasen

The Court’s order reads in full as follows: Application (24A164) is granted in part and denied in part by the Court. The district court’s May 2, 2024 judgment is stayed only to the extent it enjoins enforcement of Ariz. Rev.… Continue reading

“Court Accepts Request to Review Appeal of Crystal Mason Acquittal”

August 22, 2024, 10:43 amfelon votingRick Hasen

Release: The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has decided to reexamine the voting case of Fort Worth grandmother Crystal Mason that it had previously sent back to the Texas Second Court of Appeals to review. That lower court reversed Crystal … Continue reading

“Democrats get a third-party hopeful knocked off Pennsylvania ballot, as Cornel West tries to get on”

August 22, 2024, 9:57 amballot access, third partiesRick Hasen

AP: Pennsylvania Democrats have won legal challenges keeping the left-wing Party for Socialism and Liberation off the battleground state’s presidential ballot, at least for now, while a lawyer with deep Republican Party ties is working to help independent candidate … Continue reading

“Democrats signal voting rights bills will top the agenda if Harris wins”

August 22, 2024, 7:17 amcampaign finance, election administrationRick Hasen

Patrick Marley deep for WaPo: Democratic leaders say passing sweeping legislation to expand voting rights and curb gerrymandering will be at or near the top of their governing agenda should Vice President Kamala Harris win the presidency this fall in… Continue reading

“LAWSUIT: North Carolina woman challenges state’s unconstitutional ‘ballot selfie’ ban”

August 22, 2024, 7:11 amelection administration, First Amendment theoryRick Hasen

Release from FIRE.

“Morning Digest: The Utah GOP wants the power to overturn citizens’ ballot initiatives”

August 22, 2024, 7:09 amdirect democracyRick Hasen

The Downballot: Utah’s Republican-dominated legislature voted on Wednesday to place a constitutional amendment on the general election ballot that would explicitly allow lawmakers to amend or repeal voter-approved initiatives―including a 2018 measure that could put an end to partisan gerrymandering.… Continue reading

Bob Bauer in The Atlantic on Republicans’ Argument in the AZ Case About Congress’s Power to Regulate Presidential Elections

August 22, 2024, 7:06 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Bob in The Atlantic: Only months before November’s elections, the Republican National Committee has launched a new legal attack on the rules that govern federal elections. Supported by 24 states, the RNC is seeking, on an emergency basis, a Supreme… Continue reading

Divided Seventh Circuit finds no standing for congressional candidate to challenge Illinois’s absentee ballot receipt deadline

August 22, 2024, 5:40 amcourt decisionsDerek Muller

The court was mostly unanimous but divided on a congressional candidate’s standing–including an interesting discussion that occasionally comes up in election law about what kind of risks or likelihoods courts should be thinking about when resolving disputes before an election… Continue reading

Federal court explains why there’s no reason to miss Georgia’s election certification deadline

August 22, 2024, 5:20 amUncategorizedDerek Muller

…back in 2018, when Common Cause asked a court to extend the certification deadline to amend ballot count totals after Stacey Abrams’s loss. From the plaintiff’s request: Although the requested injunctive relief may “require additional efforts” from Secretary Kemp… Continue reading

“Just 51 votes separate these two WA candidates. Next: A statewide recount by hand”

August 21, 2024, 10:43 amrecountsRick Hasen

Seattle Times reports.

“Investors Favor Political Disclosures for Companies, Poll Finds”

August 21, 2024, 10:36 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Bloomberg: Voters who are invested in the stock market want more transparency of corporate political spending, according to a new poll released as races heat up for the White House and down-ballot offices. In the survey, from the Zicklin… Continue reading

Rich Bernstein: “Protecting Elections Under U.S. v. Trump”

August 21, 2024, 10:32 amauthoritarian threats in US, election subversion risk, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

New at Society for the Rule of Law.

“If Dire Warnings Won’t Stop Trump, Democrats Figure Mockery Might”

August 21, 2024, 7:33 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Jonathan Weisman in the NYT: If Democrats can’t make the nation fear Donald Trump, they have decided that perhaps they can persuade voters to laugh at him instead. For more than four years, under the leadership of President Biden, the… Continue reading

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The law of politics and the politics of law