The Impoundment Act, Polarization, Bipartisanship, and the Budget

July 17, 2025, 3:52 pmUncategorizedRichard Pildes

The Impoundment Act of 1974 was passed with strong bipartisan support in the pre-polarization era. It was designed to reassert congressional control over the budget, while ac acknowledging there might be circumstances in which Presidents had good reasons not to… Continue reading

FL Supreme Court Upholds Congressional Districts

July 17, 2025, 12:12 pmredistrictingDan Tokaji

PBS reports on the decision rejecting a challenge to the DeSantis-backed plan, which eliminated a majority-Black district in northern Florida. Here’s the opening paragraph of today’s majority opinion in Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute v. Secretary, Florida Department of… Continue reading

UK Plans to Lower Voting Age to 16

July 17, 2025, 12:01 pmcomparative election lawDan Tokaji

NYT: “The British government said on Thursday that it would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote, in what it called a landmark moment for democracy and some of its opponents decried as an attempt to tilt the electoral playing… Continue reading

“U.S. to Curtail Practice of Assessing Fairness of Foreign Elections”

July 17, 2025, 11:57 amcomparative election law, election subversion riskDan Tokaji

WSJ: “he State Department is placing strict limits on its public assessments of foreign elections, according to an internal State Department directive, a sharp shift away from a practice the U.S. has used for decades to promote fair elections… Continue reading

Kang, “Party Campaign Finance from FECA to Modern Hyperpartisanship”

July 17, 2025, 11:52 amcampaign finance, political parties, political polarizationDan Tokaji

Michael Kang’s latest, forthcoming in Fifty Years of Buckley v. Valeo (Lee Bollinger & Geoffrey Stone eds., 2025). The abstract: Political parties grew from seeming irrelevance in campaign finance at the time of the Federal Election Campaign Act amendments… Continue reading

Watch Archived Video of UCLA Hammer/Safeguarding Democracy Project Supreme Court Term in Review Event with Cary Franklin, Jennifer Chacon, Justin Levitt, and Eugene Volokh (with Hasen Moderating)

July 17, 2025, 11:38 amSupreme CourtRick Hasen

You can watch on Youtube. A fascinating and deep discussion:

“Supreme Court Keeps Ruling in Trump’s Favor, but Doesn’t Say Why”

July 17, 2025, 8:54 amSupreme CourtDan Tokaji

NYT on the shadow docket, of which election law cases — especially those involving the Purcell doctrine — have been prominent components over the years. The article begins: “In clearing the way for President Trump’s efforts to transform American… Continue reading

Tokaji, “Racist Voting”

July 17, 2025, 7:45 amredistricting, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

My latest article, recently published in the Alabama Law Review. Here’s the abstract: Does the Constitution protect individual voters’ freedom to cast their votes for racially discriminatory reasons? Or does it prohibit racist voting that denies a minority… Continue reading

“Wyoming Is Now Requiring Would-be Voters to Document Their Citizenship”

July 17, 2025, 5:57 amfraudulent fraud squad, voter idDan Tokaji

Bolts: Wyoming became the second state to require that all would-be voters provide physical documentation of their citizenship to vote in any election, as conservatives step up their nationwide push for policies to bar noncitizens from voter rolls… Opponents… Continue reading

“Will Wisconsin Get New Congressional Maps?”

July 17, 2025, 5:47 amUncategorizedNicholas Stephanopoulos

This piece comments on the new lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s congressional map on the ground that it’s an anti-competitive (not a partisan) gerrymander that artificially suppresses competition in most districts. HLS’s Election Law Clinic is working with Law Forward to represent… Continue reading

Wisconsin Election Commission Finds Lax Security at Facility Where Uncounted Madison Ballots Were Found

July 17, 2025, 5:12 amelection administrationDan Tokaji

Votebeat Wisconsin: One of the bags of uncounted ballots from Madison’s 2024 presidential election was inadvertently stored in a county-owned building that was left unsecured at times and that was used at one point by an “unauthorized” person for… Continue reading

“Senators Want Answers on Use of DHS Database to Purge Voters”

July 17, 2025, 5:03 amvoter registrationDan Tokaji

Democracy Docket: Under President Donald Trump, DHS upgraded its Systemic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system, integrating data from the Social Security Administration and making the database available to state officials to confirm voter registrants’ citizenship for free. The… Continue reading

“Over 1 in 5 high-level Trump picks held crypto, Post analysis finds”

July 17, 2025, 4:57 amcampaign finance, conflict of interest lawsDan Tokaji

Washington Post: Nearly 70 Trump administration officials and nominees held cryptocurrency or investments in blockchain or digital-asset companies at the time of their selection, with stakes ranging from small to more than $120 million…. [T]he appointment of multiple officials… Continue reading

Justice Kavanaugh Stays 8th. Cir. Ruling Denying Private Enforcement of Section 2

July 17, 2025, 4:48 amredistricting, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Washington Post reports on yesterday’s administrative stay in Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians v. Howe: Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh on Wednesday paused a federal appeals court ruling that bars individuals in some states from filing lawsuits… Continue reading