“The 118th Congress passed the fewest laws in decades”

December 30, 2024, 3:54 pmlegislation and legislatures, political polarizationRick Hasen

Axios: If measured by the number of bills signed into law, the 118th Congress was by far the most unproductive since at least the 1980s, according to data from public affairs firm Quorum. Why it matters: That is not the… Continue reading

Remembering Jimmy Carter and His Legacy for Election Law

December 30, 2024, 7:48 amelection administration, election law bizRick Hasen

President Jimmy Carter died at 100. He was a moral, decent man, committed to the cause of justice. One of his passions was for democracy. His work with the Carter Center helped to ensure fair elections around the world. He… Continue reading

“Some Justice Department Lawyers Look for Protection—and the Exits”

December 30, 2024, 7:33 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

WSJ: ustice Department lawyers who have angered President-elect Donald Trump and his allies are facing tough decisions about whether to stay in government—and how to best protect themselves from threats of retribution after Inauguration Day. Dozens of prosecutors and agents… Continue reading

“Kansas once required voters to prove citizenship. That didn’t work out so well”

December 30, 2024, 7:32 amelection administration, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

AP: Republicans made claims about illegal voting by noncitizens a centerpiece of their 2024 campaign messaging and plan to push legislation in the new Congress requiring voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship. Yet there’s one place with a GOP… Continue reading

Sixth Circuit finds no standing for Michigan legislators to challenge ballot initiative under Elections Clause

December 27, 2024, 10:46 amElections Clause, voter initiativesDerek Muller

Opinion in Lindsey v. Whitmer by Chief Judge Sutton, joined by Judges Bush and Murphy (excerpts lightly revised): In 2022, voters passed Proposal 2, which created new voter-identification options, state-funded prepaid postage for absentee ballots, secure ballot drop boxes, and… Continue reading

“A Razor-Thin House Majority Creates Headaches for Republicans”

December 27, 2024, 8:03 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

WSJ: They won, but barely. Republicans held on to control of the House of Representatives in November by one of the thinnest margins in the country’s history—even smaller than in the current Congress—a result that will have them walking a… Continue reading

“This Was the Year of the Influencer Political Takeover”

December 27, 2024, 7:29 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Wired: After years of sitting on the sidelines, content creators became a part of the mainstream political media this year, delivering election news, analysis, and political commentary to their online fans—all while sidestepping the traditional press. Eighty-one-year-old Joe Biden… Continue reading

“The Hill criticized for op-ed urging Congress to block Trump from taking office: ‘You people are sick'” (Spoiler: Congressional Democrats have already rejected doing this)

December 27, 2024, 6:57 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Fox News: Opinion columnists for The Hill called on Congress to invoke the 14th Amendment disqualification to block President-elect Trump from taking office next month. In a column published Thursday, Evan A. Davis and David M. Schulte argued that the 14th… Continue reading

“The Year of the AI Election Wasn’t Quite What Everyone Expected; Deepfakes were nothing like the political force in 2024 that many feared—but that doesn’t mean that generative AI didn’t profoundly affect elections all over the world.”

December 26, 2024, 10:51 amcheap speechRick Hasen

Wired reports: Earlier this year, WIRED launched the AI Elections Project to track instances of AI in elections around the world. An analysis of the WIRED AI Elections Project published by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University… Continue reading

“Trump has pressed for new voting requirements. Republicans in Congress will try to make that happen”

December 26, 2024, 10:49 amelection administration, fraudulent fraud squad, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

AP: Republicans plan to move quickly in their effort to overhaul the nation’s voting procedures, seeing an opportunity with control of the White House and both chambers of Congress to push through long-sought changes that include voter ID and proof-of-citizenship… Continue reading

“Expect a quieter Jan. 6 this time around — as long as Republicans avert a looming speakership crisis”

December 26, 2024, 7:13 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

Politico: Donald Trump’s victory has made Jan. 6 boring again. Four years after a mob of Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory, Republicans and Democrats seem to agree they’ll give Trump the smooth,… Continue reading

“How prosecutors’ evidence mistakes could let Menendez walk away from corruption charges”

December 25, 2024, 6:25 pmbribery, Speech or Debate ClauseRick Hasen

Politico: Five months after a jury convicted Sen. Bob Menendez of corruption-related charges that ended his political career, federal prosecutors have admitted to a series of errors that could upend the verdicts. The missteps have handed Menendez’s attorneys just… Continue reading

“The Big Companies Funding Trump’s Inauguration Despite Denouncing Jan. 6”

December 25, 2024, 8:36 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

WSJ: Four years ago, dozens of companies denounced the invasion of the U.S. Capitol and pledged to withhold support from those who disputed the 2020 election results. Now, many of those companies are lining up to fund Donald Trump… Continue reading

“Trump’s Re-election Defines a New Era of American Politics”

December 25, 2024, 8:10 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Nate Cohn for NYT’s The Upshot: When Barack Obama won re-election in 2012, it seemed to mark the beginning of a new era of Democratic dominance, one propelled by the rise of a new generation of young, secular and nonwhite… Continue reading