With or without what kind of parties? And at what cost?

September 27, 2022, 7:04 pmpolitical parties, political polarizationTabatha Abu El-Haj

Today was the 10th Anniversary of the Mischief of Faction Blog, which started from the premise that “on balance, a nation is better off with parties than without them.” Seth Masket and Julie Azari took the opportunity to… Continue reading

Party Leaders Seek to Rein in Extremists through Spending–But Quietly

September 27, 2022, 6:13 ampolitical parties, primaries, UncategorizedTabatha Abu El-Haj

A new Washington Post report suggests that Kevin McCarthy and Liz Cheney, as party leaders, are both working to bringing order back to the Republican Party. It is only their methods and interests that differ. McCarthy’s interests appear to be… Continue reading

Politico Breaks Down Differences between House and Senate Electoral Recount Count Bills

September 27, 2022, 5:57 amUncategorizedElectoral Recount ActTabatha Abu El-Haj

Politico offers a fairly readable break down of the key differences between the House and Senate bills seeking to reform the Electoral Recount Act of 1887.

Breaking–District Court preliminarily enjoins parts new Arizona voter law

September 26, 2022, 5:36 pmballot access, NVRA (motor voter)Tabatha Abu El-Haj

The U.S. District Court for Arizona has preliminarily enjoined two key provisions of Arizona’s recent effort to regulate voter registration. Importantly, it found the statute’s provision seeking to criminalize efforts to register out-of-state voters is likely unconstitutionally vague and further… Continue reading

NCC’s Guardrails of Democracy Project

September 26, 2022, 5:25 pmUncategorizedNed Foley

On Wednesday, the National Constitution Center is hosting a webinar as part of its Guardrails of Democracy project. The specific topic is “Election 2022: Are We Ready?” David French, Ilya Somin, and I will be participating on behalf of the … Continue reading

Insightful Preview of Upcoming VRA Case

September 26, 2022, 10:48 amredistricting, Voting Rights ActTabatha Abu El-Haj

Linda Greenhouse has written, John Roberts’s Long Game. Is this the End of the Voting Rights Act?–an insightful preview of Merrill v. Milligan, which will be argued on October 4. The lengthy Atlantic article cuts straight to the point:… Continue reading

Challenge to Delaware’s Efforts to Balance Partisan Composition of Judiciary to Proceed

September 26, 2022, 7:34 amjudicial electionsTabatha Abu El-Haj

AP: Delaware courts (including its Supreme Court, Court of Chancery and Superior Court) are subject to a constitutional provision that seeks to maintain a partisan balance on its courts by providing that “no more than a bare majority of… Continue reading

Is there a political question issue lurking in Moore v. Harper?

September 26, 2022, 4:58 amElections Clause, legislation and legislaturesDerek Muller

Plenty of commentary and analysis over Moore v. Harper focuses on the meaning of the Legislature Thereof Clause tucked inside the Elections Clause. But one concept has received essentially zero examination: the political question doctrine. Some of the history of… Continue reading

“Top State Judges Make a Rare Plea in a Momentous Supreme Court Election Case”

September 26, 2022, 4:39 amUncategorizedfederalism, Moore v. HarperTabatha Abu El-Haj

N.Y. Times Sidebar: The Conference of Chief Justices has filed a brief in Moore v. Harper opposing the independent state legislature doctrine. The Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court (accurately, in my view), told the N.Y. Times: “It’s… Continue reading

“Meadows texts reveal direct White House communications with pro-Trump operative behind plans to seize voting machines”

September 26, 2022, 4:32 amelection subversion risk2022 Election CycleTabatha Abu El-Haj

CNN reporting on new text messages between White House and those dubiously seeking access to voting machines in Arizona and Georgia in order to overturn election results in 2020: “The messages, which have not been previously reported, shed new light… Continue reading

Status of Judicial Appointments on Eve of Midterms

September 26, 2022, 4:25 amUncategorizedTabatha Abu El-Haj

NBC News: “President Joe Biden has won Senate confirmation for more than 80 of his nominees to be federal judges.” Moreover, “Biden has chosen an unusually diverse slate, with high shares of Black, Latino and Asian American judges, and he… Continue reading

“Trump Allies Challenging Georgia Voters To Suppress Midterm Turnout”

September 25, 2022, 11:27 amThe Voting WarsRick Hasen

Steven Rosenfeld: On August 29, eight cartons of notarized paperwork challenging 25,000 voter registrations were delivered by pro-Donald Trump “election integrity” activists to Gwinnett County’s election offices in suburban Atlanta. They were accompanied by additional paperwork claiming that 15,000… Continue reading

Watch Archived Video of My Constitution Day Lecture on Cheap Speech and American Democracy at the University of Utah

September 24, 2022, 4:07 pmcheap speechRick Hasen

You can watch the presentation at this link.

“QAnon fans celebrate Trump’s latest embrace of the conspiracy”

September 24, 2022, 1:41 pmcheap speech, election subversion riskRick Hasen

CNN: Supporters of QAnon on former President Donald Trump’s social media platform have celebrated what they see as his renewed embrace of the conspiracy theory over the past week after he shared a meme that was viewed as one… Continue reading