“Prosecutors Intend to Show Long Pattern of Threats and Baseless Claims by Trump”

December 5, 2023, 4:37 pmelection subversion riskRick Hasen

NYT: When former President Donald J. Trump goes on trial on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, federal prosecutors intend to tell a sweeping story, informing the jury about everything from his support for the far-right Proud Boys… Continue reading

Janai Nelson: “Victims and advocates deserve a right to fight through the Voting Rights Act”

December 5, 2023, 3:06 pmVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

It’s a shame Janai had to even write this oped, but that’s where some courts are today: hutting voters out of the process of vindicating their rights has incalculable implications that could quickly compound. Over the last year alone,… Continue reading

“Voting experts warn of ‘serious threats’ for 2024 from election equipment software breaches”

December 5, 2023, 3:03 pmelection subversion risk, voting technologyRick Hasen

AP: An effort to access voting system software in several states and provide it to allies of former President Donald Trump as they sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election has raised “serious threats” ahead of next year’s… Continue reading

“Special counsel alleges Trump ‘sent’ supporters on path to Jan. 6 violence”

December 5, 2023, 11:07 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

WaPo: Federal prosecutors on Tuesday accused former president Donald Trump of a long pattern of lying about elections and encouraging violence, saying he “sent” supporters on Jan. 6, 2021 to criminally block the election results. In a new court filing… Continue reading

Top Recent Downloads in Election Law on SSRN

December 5, 2023, 9:12 ampedagogyRick Hasen

Here: RankPaperDownloads1.Moore and Partisan Gerrymandering Manoj MateDePaul University – College of LawDate Posted: 27 Oct 2023Last Revised: 27 Oct 20231122.Abuse of Discretion: The U.S. Supreme Court’s Indefensible Use of Evidence in Election Law Cases Richard L. … Continue reading

Arkansas Secretary of State blocks would-be presidential candidate Cenk Uygur from the ballot

December 5, 2023, 8:53 amUncategorizedDerek Muller

I chronicled earlier how Nevada blocked would-be Democratic presidential Cenk Uygur from the ballot. Uygur was born in Turkey. He tried to alter the paperwork in Nevada that required him to assert, under penalty of perjury, that he was… Continue reading

Greg Sargent: “Enough with all the fatalism about a Trump dictatorship”

December 5, 2023, 7:41 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

WaPo column: “Authoritarians create a climate where they seem unstoppable,” Ben-Ghiat told me. “Creating an aura of destiny around the leader galvanizes his supporters by making his movement seem much stronger than it actually is. The manipulation of perception is… Continue reading

New Poll of Former Members of Congress Reveals Concern for Democracy, Pervasiveness of Threats

December 5, 2023, 7:25 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

New from FMC & UMass: in 2023, FMC partnered with the University of Massachusetts Amherst UMass Poll to conduct a survey on the perspectives, beliefs, and experiences of Former Members of Congress. Nearly 300 Former Members responded to the survey,… Continue reading

Dec 12 CAP Event: “Is Alaska the Secret to Saving American Democracy?”

December 5, 2023, 7:21 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

This looks interesting: American democracy is in crisis. The country has become deeply divided along partisan lines, causing Americans to turn against each other. Compromise has become scarce, while threats of political violence have risen. But there’s hope in an… Continue reading

“Defending his 2020 fraud claims, Trump turns to fringe Jan. 6 theories”

December 4, 2023, 9:07 pmfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

WaPo: Ever since he was indicted on charges of interfering in the 2020 election results, Donald Trump has relished the chance to use the case in Washington as a venue to air his baseless claims of fraud. Now he is… Continue reading

“R.F.K. Jr. Allies Say They’ll Spend Over $10 Million on Ballot Access”

December 4, 2023, 4:24 pmballot access, third partiesRick Hasen

NYT: A super PAC backing the independent presidential candidacy of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is planning to spend $10 million to $15 million to get Mr. Kennedy on the ballot in 10 states, a substantial effort that, even if partly… Continue reading

“Eligible voters are being swept up in conservative activists’ efforts to purge voter rolls”

December 4, 2023, 2:16 pmfraudulent fraud squad, voter registrationRick Hasen

CBS News: Voters eligible to cast ballots are already being swept up in a grassroots effort to purge the nation’s registration rolls ahead of the 2024 presidential election, a CBS News investigation has found. Fueled by doubts about the… Continue reading

“Accused of targeting democracy, Trump turns to ‘no puppet’ tactics”

December 4, 2023, 2:13 pmelection subversion riskRick Hasen

Important point from Steve Benen: With this in mind, Trump is aware of the fact that he’s running for the nation’s highest office effectively as an opponent of democracy. He also realizes that a growing number of observers — journalists,… Continue reading