“Meta says it won’t punish Trump for attacking the 2020 election results. But the 2024 vote is a different story”

January 29, 2023, 9:17 amcheap speechRick Hasen

Oliver Darcy of CNN confirms the point I raised in my Slate piece: Trump can say whatever he wants about the last election without sanction: Nine minutes after Meta announced that it will allow Donald Trump back on its… Continue reading

“Trump’s Evolution in Social-Media Exile: More QAnon, More Extremes”

January 29, 2023, 9:08 amcheap speechRick Hasen

NYT: In September, former President Donald J. Trump went on Truth Social, his social network, and shared an image of himself wearing a lapel pin in the form of the letter Q, along with a phrase closely associated with the… Continue reading

“GOP Leadership Battles Expose Divisions in 2024 Battleground States”

January 29, 2023, 9:06 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

WSJ: Rifts in the GOP between those who support Donald Trump’s false 2020 election fraud claims and those who want the party to move on from the former president have resurfaced in party leadership races in key states, with each… Continue reading

“Election-denying lawmakers hold key election oversight roles”

January 28, 2023, 1:02 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

AP: Republican lawmakers who have spread election conspiracy theories and falsely claimed that the 2020 presidential outcome was rigged are overseeing legislative committees charged with setting election policy in two major political battleground states. Divided government in Pennsylvania and Arizona… Continue reading

“Justice Department asks FEC to stand down as prosecutors probe Santos”

January 27, 2023, 3:33 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

WaPo: The Justice Department has asked the Federal Election Commission to hold off on any enforcement action against George Santos, the Republican congressman from New York who lied about key aspects of his biography, as prosecutors conduct a… Continue reading

“Facebook was a cash cow for Trump. It could end up being a ‘bronze goose.'”

January 27, 2023, 11:33 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Zach Montellaro for Politico.

“In State Legislatures, Old Rivalries Are Reheated by National Politics”

January 27, 2023, 10:43 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Michael Wines for the NYT: Any definition of partisanship, of course, often reflects on which side of the aisle one sits. But urban-rural rivalries have a long history. A forthcoming study of the actions of six state legislatures from 1921… Continue reading

“Election losses only deepen Arizona Republicans’ insistence on fraud”

January 27, 2023, 10:36 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

WaPo reports.

“Local election officials in Florida call for scrapping new ID rules for mail voting”

January 27, 2023, 9:58 amelection administrationRick Hasen

NPR: County election supervisors in Florida are urging the state to throw out new vote-by-mail restrictions that are set to be rolled out next year, saying the measures could present serious logistical and security issues. In a report sent to… Continue reading

“New Report: Publicly Funded Campaigns Can Dilute Big Money’s Influence on California’s Politics”

January 27, 2023, 9:56 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Release: “Matching funds” programs and democracy dollars, two approaches to public financing of campaigns, can be keys to breaking big money’s grip on state politics and lifting up the voices of regular Californians, according to a new report released today… Continue reading

“Report: NY can boost voter turnout with this single change”

January 27, 2023, 9:55 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Gothamist: Could New York City’s notoriously low voter turnout just be a scheduling snafu? That’s the argument in a new report from Citizens Union to be released on Friday. The nonpartisan good government group examined how holding local elections in… Continue reading

“Revealed: Trump secretly donated $1m to discredited Arizona election ‘audit'”

January 27, 2023, 7:06 amcampaign finance, chicanery, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

The Guardian:/Documented: One of the enduring mysteries surrounding the chaotic attempts to overturn Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential battle has been solved: who made a secret $1m donation to the controversial election “audit” in Arizona? The identity… Continue reading

“The Incoherence of Facebook’s Trump Decision”

January 27, 2023, 7:02 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

David Graham for The Atlantic: Whatever one thinks of Meta’s decision to allow Donald Trump back on Facebook and Instagram, how the company is doing so is already shambolic. This is a man who tried to stay in office despite… Continue reading

With Petition for Rehearing Filed in (Republican-Majority) North Carolina Supreme Court, Could SCOTUS Decision in Moore v. Harper Become Moot?

January 26, 2023, 5:22 pmlegislation and legislatures, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Back on November 9, I wrote: Could the Flipping of the North Carolina Supreme Court to Republican Control Moot the Moore v. Harper Case about the Independent State Legislature Doctrine? With news that the North Carolina Supreme Court has flipped… Continue reading