New Report on Voting Rights in Arizona

June 5, 2022, 5:24 amUncategorizedTabatha Abu El-Haj

Will Wilder, Brennan Center, has a new report, Arizona Is the Epicenter of the Fight for Voting Rights Today. After a year and a half of conspiracy theories, a partisan postelection “audit,” antidemocratic legislation, election sabotage rhetoric from… Continue reading

Michigan Supreme Court Settles Gubernatorial Primary Ballot

June 4, 2022, 10:49 amUncategorized2022 Election CycleTabatha Abu El-Haj

Detroit Free Press: “The Michigan Supreme Court dealt a fatal blow to [several] GOP gubernatorial candidates’ last-ditch attempts to land a spot on the August primary ballot after a signature forgery scandal brought their campaigns to an end.”

“Election Law in an Age of Distrust”

June 4, 2022, 3:24 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

My piece with that title, for the Stanford Law Review’s online Symposium: Safeguarding the Fundamental Right to Vote, is now published. Here’s the abstract: Election law now operates in a sea of pervasive distrust. The voting wars have led to… Continue reading

The Constitution and Condorcet: Democracy Protection through Electoral Reform

June 3, 2022, 5:59 pmUncategorizedNed Foley

I’ve posted this paper on SSRN. Originally presented as part of a symposium on “The Constitution and Democratic Erosion,” it will be published by the Drake Law Review. Here’s the abstract: The Madisonian premises of the Constitution need… Continue reading

Breaking–“David McCormick concedes to Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania Republican Senate primary”

June 3, 2022, 3:49 pmUncategorized2022 Election CycleTabatha Abu El-Haj

Philadelphia Inquirer: “Republican David McCormick ended his primary campaign against GOP rival Mehmet Oz Friday night, conceding a closely contested race as a recount showed no signs of shifting the outcome in McCormick’s favor.”

“To Trust Election Results, We Must Trust The People Administering Them”

June 3, 2022, 1:38 pmUncategorizedTabatha Abu El-Haj

Heather Balas, vice president of the Election Reformers Network, and Amber McReynolds, a leading expert in election administrator and governor for the U.S. postal services, challenge tpractice of partisan election administration, arguing it is ill-suited to an era of polarization.… Continue reading

Issue One’s bipartisan National Council on Election Integrity calls on Congress to invest in cybersecurity

June 3, 2022, 1:23 pmUncategorizedTabatha Abu El-Haj

An opinion piece, entitled “Putin wants to hack our elections. Here’s how we stop it,” by Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R-KY) and former Congressman Reid Ribble (R-WI), calls on Congress to prioritize election cyber security. Over recent years,… Continue reading

Jan. 6 Select Committee Round Up

June 3, 2022, 1:06 pmUncategorizedTabatha Abu El-Haj

Ryan Goodman and Justin Hendrix at Just Security have published a “Primer on the Hearings of the January 6th Select Committee.” Helpfully, “[t]he resource is structured around the key prongs of the investigation itself — how the Select… Continue reading

“Should States Retain Prior Districts if Population Has Changed Little?”

June 3, 2022, 8:45 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

Based on the recent redistricting saga in New Hampshire, I’ve published this essay at Real Clear Politics. Maine went through a similar extended saga with its two congressional districts in the 2010 round of redistricting. Here’s an excerpt: In New… Continue reading

“The RNC’s Ground Game of Inches”

June 3, 2022, 5:56 ampolitical partiesTabatha Abu El-Haj

Alexander Sammon at The American Prospect has this extended piece on the RNC’s ground game focused on building support among nonwhite voters by establishing community centers across the country. Quite interested in this in light of my interest in associational … Continue reading

With Florida’s Maps in Place, 2022 Redistricting Cycle Basically Done

June 3, 2022, 5:00 amredistricting2022 Redistricting cycleTabatha Abu El-Haj

N.Y. Times offers this summary of the 2022 redistricting cycle. Key points: Litigation over congressional maps continues, but it is unlikely to change the maps before November.This redistricting cycle “has created a much less competitive House map than before.”The Democrats… Continue reading

Breaking & Analysis —Commonwealth Court Issues Injunction in PA Republican Primary Recount

June 2, 2022, 5:50 pmabsentee ballots, ballot access, recounts2022 Republican PrimaryTabatha Abu El-Haj

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled in favor of Dave McCormick’s petition for a “judicial declaration that ‘timely returned absentee and mail-in ballots may not be rejected due solely to the lack of a date in the declaration on the… Continue reading

“Michael Avenatti Sentenced to Four-Year Prison Term for Stealing From Stormy Daniels”

June 2, 2022, 2:50 pmUncategorizedRichard Pildes

From the WSJ (behind paywall): Onetime celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday for stealing $300,000 from the adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, whom he represented in her battles with former President Donald Trump. U.S.… Continue reading

Fetterman’s Health Raises Questions

June 2, 2022, 1:39 pmUncategorizedTabatha Abu El-Haj

NBC News is reporting increasing concerns among Democrats about the potential implications of John Fetterman’s health status, including whether there will be a need to brush up on the state’s ballot replacement provisions. Those laws defer to state party rules… Continue reading