A Surreal Right to Vote: Responding to the Balkinization Symposium

March 18, 2024, 8:19 amReal Right to VoteRick Hasen

[Cross-posted from Balkinization] A Surreal Right to Vote: Responding to the Balkinization Symposium For the Balkinization symposium on Richard L. Hasen, A Real Right to Vote: How a Constitutional Amendment Can Safeguard American Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2024)… Continue reading

“Obscure legal theory could weaken voters’ protections from racist laws”

March 18, 2024, 8:04 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

The Guardian: A federal court has embraced a novel legal theory that seriously threatens one of the last legs of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. At the heart of the dispute is who has the right to bring a… Continue reading

“Finding Condorcet”

March 18, 2024, 7:55 amUncategorizedNicholas Stephanopoulos

I just posted this paper, written for the Washington & Lee Law Review’s symposium on voting rights in a politically polarized era. The paper uses a new dataset of about two hundred foreign instant-runoff voting (IRV) elections to assess… Continue reading

“Supreme Court rejects appeal by former New Mexico county commissioner banned for Jan. 6 insurrection”

March 18, 2024, 7:36 amelection subversion risk, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

AP: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a former New Mexico county commissioner who was kicked out of office over his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Former Otero County commissioner Couy … Continue reading

“Pro-Trump disruptions in Arizona county elevate fears for the 2024 vote”

March 18, 2024, 7:28 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

WaPo: As the board of supervisors for Arizona’s largest county abruptly ended a meeting late last month, a swarm of people rushed toward the dais, shouting that the members were illegitimate. The Maricopa County leaders made a beeline for a… Continue reading

New Jersey: “Attorney General says organization lines are unconstitutional”

March 18, 2024, 7:19 amballot accessRick Hasen

New Jersey Globe: Attorney General Matt Platkin has told a federal judge that New Jersey’s county organization line is unconstitutional, and he is not prepared to defend it in court, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed. Platkin sent a letter … Continue reading

“Trump says there will be ‘bloodbath’ if he loses 2024 election, ramps up anti-migrant rhetoric”

March 17, 2024, 12:18 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

ABC News: What was scheduled to be a guest appearance by former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally for Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno quickly turned into Trump saying there would be a “bloodbath” for the country if he… Continue reading

“The Terrifying Legal Election Scenario That Keeps Me Up at Night”

March 17, 2024, 12:11 pmelectoral collegeRick Hasen

Michael Tomasky on a potential 269-269 electoral college tie leading to a contingent election where each state’s U.S. House delegation gets one vote to pick the President.

“Some states are fighting to protect voters from doxxing. They’re losing.”

March 17, 2024, 12:09 pmchicanery, election administrationRick Hasen

See this piece from Politico, with the subhed: “As state leaders move to protect voter data in the interest of privacy, a conservative transparency campaign is winning a battle to put it all on the internet.”

Must-read NYT Deep Dive that Helps Explain SCOTUS Argument Monday in Murthy v. Missouri: “How Trump’s Allies Are Winning the War Over Disinformation”

March 17, 2024, 12:04 pmcheap speech, chicanery, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

It’s a complex story because concern about government jawboning is real but the mendacious attack on those who fought disinformation in the 2020 election is having major reverberations for 2024. Jim Rutenberg and Steven Lee Myers lay it all out:… Continue reading

“Share of Democratic Registrations Is Declining, but What Does It Mean?”

March 16, 2024, 9:48 ampolitical partiesRick Hasen

Nate Cohn for NYT’s “The Tilt:” Newly registered voters, who are disproportionately young and nonwhite, have tended to lean Democratic. That’s been less and less true during the Biden era. A majority of states ask people to select a party… Continue reading

“How Trump Is Scrambling to Raise Cash”

March 16, 2024, 9:46 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: As many as three nights a week, Donald J. Trump has been hosting private dinners at Mar-a-Lago, schmoozing with some of the Republican Party’s biggest financiers as he races to address a sizable cash shortfall against President Biden. There… Continue reading

“Judge redraws WA’s legislative map after lawsuit over Latino voters”

March 16, 2024, 9:44 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

Seattle Times: Washington’s political map is set to change in response to allegations of discrimination against Latino voters, and a result could be Democrats winning more seats in the Legislature. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik approved new boundaries for… Continue reading

“Judge Delays Trump’s Manhattan Trial Until at Least Mid-April”

March 15, 2024, 2:39 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: A New York judge on Friday delayed Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan until at least mid-April, postponing the only one of Mr. Trump’s four criminal cases that appeared set to begin. The delay — lasting 30 days from… Continue reading