“Did Kansas criminalize voter registration drives? Supreme Court weighs election law case”

February 3, 2023, 7:09 amThe Voting WarsRick Hasen

Topeka Capital-Journal: Voter advocacy organizations are asking the Kansas Supreme Court to block a new state law that they argue criminalizes voter registration drives, despite lower courts rejecting the argument. The justices of the state’s high court indicated in Wednesday’s… Continue reading

“North Carolina Supreme Court Signals It May Roll Back Voting Rights for Thousands”

February 3, 2023, 7:04 amfelon votingRick Hasen

Bolts: The state supreme court on Thursday held a hearing on whether North Carolinians should have the right to vote while on probation or parole. The case, CSI vs. Moore, is a challenge to North Carolina’s felony disenfranchisement law, which bars… Continue reading

“FEC announces 2023-2024 campaign cycle contribution limits”

February 2, 2023, 2:32 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Release: The Federal Election Commission announced updated contribution limits that have been indexed for inflation and are effective for federal elections in 2023 and 2024. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) included provisions that indexed some contribution limits… Continue reading

“Two years after Jan. 6, Trump is still promoting violent rhetoric”

February 2, 2023, 1:58 pmchicanery, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Aaron Blake for WaPo: It has been some 25 months since supporters of Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol. Trump was later impeached for allegedly inciting the mob, with a historic number of Republicans voting to convict, though… Continue reading

“‘I feel duped’: Inside the fast-food industry’s push to dismantle a new California labor law”

February 2, 2023, 12:59 pmdirect democracy, petition signature gatheringRick Hasen

LAT: Susan Bushnell was in a hurry when a man, clipboard in hand, approached her outside a Walmart Supercenter in Vista, Calif., one afternoon last September. The man asked Bushnell to sign a petition as she wrangled her fussing… Continue reading

“Election officials say democracy is still at risk in 2024: ‘The gun is still loaded'”

February 2, 2023, 9:13 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Jane Timm for NBC News: The November midterms gave election officials and pro-democracy advocates their first sigh of relief in years: The election system they’d spent years defending and shoring up operated almost seamlessly, and most of the election deniers… Continue reading

Does Michigan’s decision to move up its presidential primary violate the state’s new constitutional right to vote?

February 2, 2023, 7:56 amlegislation and legislatures, primariesDerek Muller

The Democratic National Committee recently approved changes to the presidential primary calendar. One of those changes permits Michigan to move into February for its presidential primary. Michigan just changed its primary to February. But the Republican National Committee… Continue reading

“Lawmakers Call for Inquiry Into Durham’s Review of Russia Investigation”

February 2, 2023, 6:49 amchicanery, Department of JusticeRick Hasen

NYT: Two House Democrats urged the Justice Department’s independent inspector general on Wednesday to open an investigation into the special counsel review of the Russia inquiry, citing “alarming” disclosures in a recent New York Times article. The article, which showed… Continue reading

“Nonpartisan in name only. Wisconsin Supreme Court race has political overtones.”

February 2, 2023, 6:31 amjudicial electionsRick Hasen

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz is focusing her campaign for the state Supreme Court on her belief that women should be able to choose whether to continue pregnancies and has characterized the state’s Republican-written legislative maps as … Continue reading

ELB Podcast Episode 4:5: Rachel Maddow: What “Ultra” Can Teach Us About Threats to Democracy Today

February 1, 2023, 5:57 pmELB Podcast, election subversion riskRick Hasen

New ELB Podcast: Can an attempt an election subversion in the 1940s teach us how to handle current threats to American democracy? Do failed attempts to hold Nazi sympathizers in the American government accountable through criminal litigation show the… Continue reading

“Election officials ready themselves for the next wave of Trump followers”

February 1, 2023, 7:45 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Politico: Hundreds of local election officials across the country are about to confront a political challenge putting their management skills and their campaign chops to the test: Administering the 2024 presidential vote while running for reelection themselves. Donald Trump acolytes… Continue reading

“The Future of Redistricting”

February 1, 2023, 7:43 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Andrew Taylor defends the independent state legislature theory in National Affairs.

“Bias and Human Error Played Parts in F.B.I.’s Jan. 6 Failure, Documents Suggest”

February 1, 2023, 7:39 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: Days before the end of the 2020 presidential race, a team of F.B.I. analysts tried to game out the worst potential outcomes of a disputed election. But of all the scenarios they envisioned, the one they never thought of… Continue reading

“GOP report shows plan to ramp up focus on disproven election fraud claims”

January 31, 2023, 4:23 pmfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

WaPo: A new internal report prepared by the Republican National Committee proposes creating a permanent infrastructure in every state to ramp up “election integrity” activities in response to perceptions within GOP ranks of widespread fraud and abuse in the… Continue reading

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The law of politics and the politics of law