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

“Newsom threatens Texas over power grab. He’s blowing smoke”

July 17, 2025, 4:37 amredistrictingDan Tokaji

Mark Barabak in LAT: The fact is, voters took the power of political line-drawing away from the governor and his fellow lawmakers, for good reason, and it’s not like Newsom can unilaterally take that power back — no matter… Continue reading

“Spurned U.S. Attorney Clings to Job by Being Appointed His Own Assistant”

July 17, 2025, 4:34 amDepartment of JusticeDan Tokaji

NYT: President Trump’s embattled interim U.S. attorney in Albany, N.Y., is back leading the office under an unusual new title, just days after a panel of judges refused to appoint him to lead the office permanently. According to a… Continue reading

Redistricting for National Partisan Fairness

July 16, 2025, 7:28 amUncategorizedNicholas Stephanopoulos

With mid-decade re-redistricting on the horizon in Ohio and Texas, I wanted to re-up this Slate column I wrote with Aaron Goldzimer a few years back. Over the last two elections, the U.S. House has been exceptionally fair, in aggregate.… Continue reading

“DOJ hits states with broad requests for voter rolls, election data”

July 16, 2025, 5:16 amDepartment of Justice, voter registration, voting technologyDan Tokaji

Washington Post reports: The Trump administration and its allies have launched a multipronged effort to gather data on voters and inspect voting equipment, sparking concern among local and state election officials about federal interference ahead ofthe 2026 midterms. The… Continue reading

“Republicans renew a bid to remove noncitizens from the census tally behind voting maps”

July 16, 2025, 4:59 amcensus litigation, redistrictingDan Tokaji

NPR: Republicans in Congress are reviving a controversial push to alter a key set of census numbers that are used to determine how presidents and members of the U.S. House of Representatives are elected. Ratified after the Civil War, … Continue reading

Texas Democrats Consider Walkout, as Trump Presses for 5 New Republican Districts

July 16, 2025, 4:48 amredistrictingDan Tokaji

NYT reports on the latest from Texas: National Democratic leaders are encouraging state Democrats in the Texas House to consider walking out of a special legislative session this month to block Republicans from redrawing the state’s congressional maps ahead of… Continue reading

“Federal judge blocks Maine’s voter-approved law capping donations to super PACs”

July 16, 2025, 4:34 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

Maine Public reports: The ballot initiative approved by Maine voters last year would set a $5,000 annual limit on donations to political action committees that make “independent expenditures” on candidate campaigns. Supporters argue that the cap is needed to… Continue reading