Breaking: Unanimous 3-Judge Federal Court Holds Alabama Defied Supreme Court in Allen v. Milligan, Must Draw Another Minority Opportunity Congressional District

September 5, 2023, 7:33 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

You can find the unanimous, 217-page opinion at this link. The Court castigated Alabama both for its failure to obey the Supreme Court’s order and for its delay: We have reached these conclusions only after conducting an exhaustive analysis of… Continue reading

“Is the Supreme Court seriously going to disqualify Trump? I’m giving it a 10% chance.”

September 4, 2023, 12:57 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Adam Unikowsky at Substack.

“Wisconsin GOP weighs moves to sideline elections chief and liberal Supreme Court majority”

September 4, 2023, 12:56 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

CNN: Wisconsin Republicans, after a string of losses in hotly contested statewide races, are taking steps toward sidelining the state’s nonpartisan elections chief and undercutting the new liberal majority on the state Supreme Court. Their actions – an escalation of… Continue reading

Coming Next Week to ELB: Symposium on the 25th Anniversary of Issacharoff and Pildes, “Politics as Markets”

September 4, 2023, 10:53 amPoliticsMarkets25, theoryPoliticsMarkets25Rick Hasen

One of the most important theoretical contributions to election law in the past generation has been Sam Issacharoff and Rick Pildes’s article, Politics as Markets: Partisan Lockups of the Democratic Process, 50 Stanford Law Review 643 (1998). (The article… Continue reading

“Kennedy’s Supreme Court legacy is being erased, in part by past clerks”

September 4, 2023, 9:07 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Deep dive by Bob Barnes for WaPo: Other changes attributable to Kennedy’s departure have drawn less attention. For years, Kennedy was alone among the conservative justices in believing extreme partisan gerrymandering —drawing legislative districts to favor the political party in… Continue reading

“A Georgia trial arguing redistricting harmed Black voters could decide control of a US House seat”

September 4, 2023, 7:44 amredistrictingRick Hasen

AP: Democrats could gain a seat in the U.S. House and multiple seats in Georgia’s Legislature if a judge rules Republicans drew maps illegally weakening Black voters’ power. The trial beginning Tuesday is part of a wave of litigation progressing… Continue reading

“Top Democrats say there’s a strong case for disqualifying Trump”

September 4, 2023, 7:08 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Axios: Two leading Democrats said Sunday there are potential grounds to remove former President Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot under the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection clause.” The big picture: The comments by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sen. Tim… Continue reading

“Houston-area elections office dismantled as contentious Texas law takes effect”

September 4, 2023, 7:03 amelection administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

CNN: The election administrator’s office in Texas’ most populous county – Harris County, which is home to Houston – has been dismantled to comply with a new state law passed by Republican legislators that officially takes effect Friday. The law,… Continue reading

“Arizona GOP rejects single-day vote proposal, angering election deniers”

September 2, 2023, 4:10 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

WaPo: A proposal by Republican election deniers in Arizona who want to opt out of the state’s government-run presidential primary election in 2024 and instead hold the party’s own one-day, in-person election, with paper ballots that would be counted by… Continue reading

“The sleeper legal fight that could define 2024: Is Trump even eligible to run?”

September 2, 2023, 2:37 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Politico reports.

“Florida redistricting lawsuit overturns DeSantis map, empowers Black voters”

September 2, 2023, 2:36 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

The Tributary: A state judge struck down North Florida’s congressional districts Saturday, rebuffing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ open defiance of anti-gerrymandering protections, finding the governor’s map illegally reduced Black voters’ electoral power. DeSantis had wagered the state’s Fair Districts Amendment… Continue reading

Wisconsin: “Justice Janet Protasiewicz is under pressure to step away from a case. What to know about impeachment and recusal”

September 2, 2023, 2:31 pmjudicial electionsRick Hasen

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: What role does campaign spending play in recusal? In Wisconsin, none. The state Supreme Court adopted rules in 2010 that a judge “shall not be required” to recuse based solely on an endorsement or campaign contribution. That’s a… Continue reading

“Federal judge to decide whether new Jefferson County Commission district lines are racially unfair”

September 1, 2023, 3:06 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

AL.com: The future leadership of Alabama’s largest county is in the hands of a federal judge who will decide whether Jefferson County commissioners gerrymandered district lines to dwarf the voting rights of Black residents. In a five-hour hearing Wednesday Judge… Continue reading

“Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs sentenced to 17 years for Jan. 6 crimes”

September 1, 2023, 6:52 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

WaPo: A former leader of the far-right Proud Boys group was sentenced Thursday to 17 years in prison, just shy of the longest punishment imposed on a participant in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.… Continue reading

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