Spencer Overton Blogging Weeks of October 13 and 20
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“Grand jury indicts N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James, a Trump opponent, on bank fraud charge”
NBC News:
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat who has clashed with President Donald Trump, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Virginia, three sources familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News.
James was… Continue reading
“Dominion, Company at Center of False 2020 Voting Conspiracies, Is Sold; The election machine manufacturer was bought by a little-known company whose founder is a former Republican election official.”
NYT:
Election machines that were at the center of multiple false accusations and conspiracy theories after the 2020 election, has been sold to Liberty Vote, a new group run by a former local election director.
Liberty Vote announced the… Continue reading
“Advancement Project, Georgia NAACP File Lawsuit Challenging Racial Vote Dilution in Georgia”
Release:
Today, a federal voting rights lawsuit challenging the redistricting of Meriwether County, Georgia, was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Georgia NAACP and… Continue reading
California Will No Longer Allow Payments to Induce People to Vote to Boost Turnout (Sometimes Selectively) in State Elections
Back in my 2000 California Law Review article, Vote Buying, I wrote about how some jurisdictions, such as California permitted payments for people to register or to vote (so long as those payments were not made to induce people to… Continue reading
Watch Archived Video of Nate Persily’s Must-Watch Presentation for the Safeguarding Democracy Project on Lessons for 2024 and Risks to the 2026 Midterm Elections
Nate packs a lot of data and important observations into this talk, which was held on October 7, 2025. Watch:
“Congresswoman-in-limbo Adelita Grijalva on the dilemma she faces”
WaPo:
Every office along the second floor of the Longworth House Office Building looks welcoming, flags lined up nicely, most with visitor sign-in logs out front.
Except for the one where the plaque out front reads, “Representative Adelita S. Grijalva,… Continue reading
“Justices Appear Open to Challenge of Mail-In Ballot Rules by Illinois Politician”
NYT:
A majority of the Supreme Court appeared sympathetic on Wednesday to arguments by an Illinois congressman that political candidates should be able to challenge their states’ election laws.
During the approximately two-hour argument, the justices grappled with what… Continue reading
“VP Vance to visit Indiana Friday to meet with Senate GOP amid redistricting standoff”
Indiana Capital Chronicle:
Vice President JD Vance is slated to return to the Hoosier State on Friday to meet with Indiana’s Senate Republican caucus as redistricting deliberations appear to be at an impasse.
Multiple sources, including two Republican state… Continue reading
“It’s Time to Reform the National Emergencies Act”
At the NYU Democracy Project, William Galston publishes an essay today on reining in presidential emergency powers. Here’s an excerpt:
The most important and urgent constitutional issue of our era is the relentless growth of executive power under presidents of… Continue reading
“‘The stakes are quite large’: US supreme court case could gut Voting Rights Act”
Sam Levine with a deep dive on Callais for The Guardian.
Dan Weiner on the Brennan Center’s Interesting Amicus Brief in the NRSC Case
I asked Dan Weiner of the Brennan Center to write a bit about the interesting position they’ve taken in the NRSC campaign finance case. Here is his guest post:
On Monday the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law filed… Continue reading
Big Voter Registration Gap in Youth Voter Registration in Pennsylvania and Elsewhere
New data from The Civics Center:
The Bost Argument Today on Election Law Standing
In the pre-argument essay I published on the Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections case, which was argued today, I concluded with the view that the Court would be likely to reverse the lower court and find standing for… Continue reading