No Matter What the Supreme Court Decides about the Independent State Legislature Theory, State Legislatures Will Still Be Bound by Federal Law and the U.S. Constitution

August 5, 2022, 7:56 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

A large group of election-law experts has made this point. Nonetheless, there continues to be confusion and misunderstanding in some public commentary about this fundamental legal fact. This confusion has also slipped into some discussions about the Electoral Count Reform… Continue reading

“Senate GOP escalates its attack on Google over email spam”

August 5, 2022, 6:56 amcampaignsRick Hasen

WaPo: The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of the Republican caucus, is preparing to escalate its attack on Google over the company’s email spam filter, which it blames for recent fundraising disappointments, according to documents obtained by… Continue reading

“Force multipliers: How one donor network is pushing the envelope on California campaign money”

August 5, 2022, 6:50 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Cal Matters: Sift through the campaign contributions to Robert Rivas, the Salinas Democrat angling to become the next speaker of the California Assembly, and a name keeps popping up: Govern For California.The organization’s statewide chapter gave the maximum $9,800… Continue reading

Election Denier Kari Lake Wins Republican Nomination for Governor of Arizona

August 5, 2022, 6:46 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: Kari Lake, who in the span of two years transformed herself from a veteran local television news anchor into a tribune of the far-right political movement, won Arizona’s Republican primary for governor, according to The Associated Press.Ms. Lake… Continue reading

Election Law Professor Steve Mulroy Defeats Shelby County (Tn) District Attorney Amy Weirich After Controversial Voting Prosecution of Pamela Moses

August 5, 2022, 6:44 amelection law bizRick Hasen

Big news from the other Shelby County. More on the Moses controversy and the race from Bolts Magazine.

“How Do You Actually Stop the Steal?; A new bipartisan bill would revise how the presidential vote is certified. But it could come with risky loopholes.”

August 5, 2022, 6:38 amelection subversion risk, electoral collegeRick Hasen

Russell Berman for The Atlantic.

“Momentum Builds for Overhaul of Rules Governing the Electoral Count”

August 4, 2022, 6:58 amelection subversion risk, electoral collegeRick Hasen

Carl Hulse for the NYT: Determined to prevent a repeat of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, backers of an overhaul of the federal law governing the count of presidential electoral ballots pressed lawmakers on Wednesday to repair… Continue reading

“Trump’s Pandora’s Box: Election-Denying Candidates are Refusing to Concede”

August 4, 2022, 6:50 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

Axios on the new trend across the country. Here’s what I told them: “If people believe the other side is consistently stealing elections, first of all, you completely delegitimize people in office … but second, you create the conditions… Continue reading

“Election Law Localism and Democracy”

August 4, 2022, 6:48 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Richard Briffault has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, North Carolina Law Review). Here is the abstract: American federal and state elections are largely run by local officials. Although election law is almost entirely determined by the federal government and… Continue reading

“Trump Lawyer Proposed Challenging Georgia Senate Elections in Search of Fraud; On the day of President Biden’s inauguration, John Eastman suggested looking for voting irregularities in Georgia — and asked for help being paid the $270,000 he billed the Trump campaign.”

August 3, 2022, 5:32 pmchicanery, election subversion risk, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

NYT: John Eastman, the conservative lawyer whose plan to block congressional certification of the 2020 election failed in spectacular fashion on Jan. 6, 2021, sent an email two weeks later arguing that pro-Trump forces should sue to keep searching for… Continue reading

“Democrats face blowback after boosting far-right Michigan candidate”

August 3, 2022, 2:11 pmelection subversion riskRick Hasen

WaPo: Democrats faceda backlash Wednesday — including from within their own ranks — after inserting themselves into a GOP primary in western Michigan, helping a far-right candidate who has embraced false claims about the 2020 election to topple a Republican… Continue reading

“In 4 Swing States, G.O.P. Election Deniers Could Oversee Voting”

August 3, 2022, 12:29 pmelection subversion riskRick Hasen

NYT: With Tuesday’s primary victories in Arizona and Michigan added to those in Nevada and Pennsylvania, Republicans who have disputed the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election and who pose a threat to subvert the next one are on a… Continue reading

“Fight over online political ads heats up ahead of midterms”

August 3, 2022, 10:26 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Politico: Get ready for Facebook versus the researchers: Round 2.With just over four months to go before midterm elections, academics at New York University are gearing up for another battle with Facebook over how to track digital ads after… Continue reading