As California SOS Questions Department of Justice Authority to Send Federal Election Monitors to 5 California Counties, Looks Like DOJ is Sending Only Two U.S. Attorneys to Observe Voting Processes in Orange County

October 30, 2025, 8:18 amchicanery, Department of JusticeRick Hasen

The California Secretary of State questions authority of DOJ to send monitors to 5 California Counties: The CA GOP released a letter citing supposed irregularities in the 5 California counties that formed its purported basis for “requesting” DOJ monitors. Despite… Continue reading

“Trump Suggests He Knows He Can’t Run Again: ‘It’s Too Bad’”

October 30, 2025, 7:46 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

NYT: President Trump seemed to concede on Wednesday that he was not eligible to serve a third term, lamenting that it was an unfortunate result of the constitutional prohibition that he has mused about violating for months. Speaking to… Continue reading

“Ohio Republicans cut redistricting deal with Dems”

October 30, 2025, 7:39 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Punchbowl: Republicans on Ohio’s redistricting commission struck a deal with Democrats on a compromise congressional map after hours of late-night deliberations…. This compromise is a shocking development. Ohio’s constitution mandates a complicated redistricting process that includes the commission and the state… Continue reading

“Meta appeals $35M campaign finance fine at WA Supreme Court”

October 29, 2025, 3:50 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Washington State Standard: Facebook’s parent company is asking Washington’s high court to overturn what the state’s attorney general has called the largest campaign finance penalty in the nation’s history. Meta argues the Washington campaign finance law used to justify… Continue reading

“Louisiana Republicans delay election calendar to prepare for possible redistricting effort”

October 29, 2025, 12:03 pmredistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Jane Timm for NBC News: Louisiana’s Republican-controlled Legislature passed two bills Wednesday to delay the state’s spring elections, a move designed to give them time for a possible redraw of the congressional map if the U.S. Supreme Court weakens a … Continue reading

“Another lawsuit challenges NC redistricting, this time using new legal theory of ‘retaliation'”

October 29, 2025, 11:00 amredistrictingRick Hasen

WRAL: Opponents of North Carolina’s new congressional districts filed a new legal challenge Monday — one that leans on a new interpretation of the U.S. Constitution in hopes of blocking the map from being used in future elections. The… Continue reading

5th Circuit permits mid-decade redistricting in Tarrant County, rejects partisan, racial gerrymandering claims

October 29, 2025, 10:42 amcourt decisions, redistrictingDerek Muller

Judge Willett, joined by Judges Barksdale and Duncan, in Jackson v. Tarrant County: Here, Tarrant County chose to redraw the precinct lines used to elect its County Commissioners—and to do so mid-cycle. The Challengers, a group of voters reassigned… Continue reading

“Top Maryland Democrat torpedoes state’s redistricting push”

October 29, 2025, 7:47 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Politico reports.

Brendan Nyhan and I Discuss with NPR’s Tamara Keith What’s Behind Trump’s Trolling of an Unconstitutional Third Term

October 29, 2025, 7:27 amauthoritarian threats in US, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Listen here.

This Week at the NYU Democracy Project, We’re Running Essays on Election Related Issues

October 29, 2025, 6:00 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

On Monday, we ran Brad Smith’s skeptical essay about election reforms, titled Too Much to Ask: Voting Reforms Can Only Do So Much, which I blogged about on Monday. Yesterday, Josh Sellers published an essay with a more optimistic take,… Continue reading

Preparing for next year’s midterms

October 28, 2025, 7:05 pmUncategorizedNed Foley

This morning Rick linked to David Graham’s story for the December issue of The Atlantic, entitled Donald Trump’s Plan to Subvert the Midterms Is Already Under Way. As someone who wrote a law review article in advance of the 2020… Continue reading

“Johnson says he’s spoken with Trump about ‘the constrictions of the Constitution’ on a third term”

October 28, 2025, 12:28 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

CNN: House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday said he has spoken with Donald Trump about the possibility of the president seeking a third-term but that he sees no path for it as any change to the US Constitution would be… Continue reading

“New polling illuminates how the Supreme Court got Citizens United wrong and shows bipartisan momentum for money-in-politics reforms, including proposed Montana ballot measure”

October 28, 2025, 12:16 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Issue One release: New polling commissioned by Issue One and conducted this month by YouGov reveals that overwhelming majorities of Americans — and Montanans — broadly believe that large-scale political spending by corporations, dark money groups, and wealthy donors undermines… Continue reading

“Maine and Texas are the latest fronts in voting battles, with voter ID, citizenship on the ballot”

October 28, 2025, 12:15 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

AP reports.

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