Supreme Court pushes back on universal injunctions

June 27, 2025, 7:39 amSupreme CourtJustin Levitt

In the birthright citizenship cases, the Supreme Court today issued a 32-page 6-3 opinion that didn’t touch the merits (and produced 21 pages of concurrences and 65 pages of dissents). But the procedural issue it did decide may end up… Continue reading

More evidence of the Trump mobilization of lower-frequency voters

June 26, 2025, 10:30 pmelection administration, political parties, The Voting Warsvoter turnoutJustin Levitt

The NYT headline is “If Everyone Had Voted, Harris Still Would Have Lost.” Which, of course, is impossible to know, unless you assume that demographics is inevitably destiny. But the broader point of the outcome of this new Pew study… Continue reading

“A.I. Is Starting to Wear Down Democracy”

June 26, 2025, 10:28 pmcampaigns, cheap speechArtificial Intelligence, Election Interference, international electionsJustin Levitt

That’s the headline in the NYT, and the second exaggerated NYT headline I’ve flagged today. I don’t know that the article actually delivers what the headline promises (and headlines are usually not, as I understand it, written by the… Continue reading

“Lawyer Who Pushed Bogus Trump Elector Scheme Is Disbarred in New York”

June 26, 2025, 10:26 pmchicanerydemocratic backsliding, January 6, The Big LieJustin Levitt

The NYT gets this headline right. Based on his part in the scheme for fake electors to submit fraudulent returns in 2020 — one of the few schemes NOT involving a municipal election — Kenneth Chesebro is no longer… Continue reading

“Delaware County borough official sentenced for attempt to steal mayoral election”

June 26, 2025, 10:25 pmchicaneryelection fraud, local electionsJustin Levitt

The Pennsylvania Capital-Star covers the sentence, delivered to the final co-conspirator of a scheme to submit fraudulent write-in votes in a 2021 municipal election. (These sorts of schemes are rare, but when they do occur, they’re almost always in local… Continue reading

“Maricopa County Recorder’s Office mails incorrect letters to 83,000 voters”

June 26, 2025, 10:23 pmelection administration, voter registrationJustin Levitt

This, from Votebeat, is … not great: The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office mailed about 83,000 voters an incorrect letter warning them that they would be moved to the inactive voter list if they didn’t respond, a mistake the Recorder’s… Continue reading

“NC House bill would allow elections board workers to be replaced with political hires”

June 26, 2025, 10:22 pmelection administrationJustin Levitt

This, from NC Newsline, is also … not great: North Carolina House Republicans want more than a third of existing staff positions at the state elections office to be converted to jobs for political appointees, eliciting criticism about the… Continue reading

“Miami approves delay of election to 2026, setting up legal battle with state”

June 26, 2025, 10:21 pmelection administrationelection timing, local elections, voter turnoutJustin Levitt

Florida Politics reports on the Miami commissioners’ vote — against stern advice from the Florida Attorney General — to postpone city elections from 2025 to 2026. The move moves the elections to a higher-turnout occasion, but also prolongs existing officers’… Continue reading

“Justice Department sues Orange County registrar for access to noncitizen voting records”

June 25, 2025, 10:08 pmDepartment of Justice, NVRA (motor voter), voter registrationJustin Levitt

The L.A. Times and O.C. Register have coverage of the latest from the Civil Rights Division, in a very odd (but also comparatively low-impact?) lawsuit. The complaint is here. The fuss is apparently over 17 records of non-citizens removed… Continue reading

“Wisconsin Supreme Court rejects bid to reconsider congressional maps before the 2026 midterms”

June 25, 2025, 10:06 pmredistrictingstate constitutionsJustin Levitt

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports on two cases that the state Supreme Court declined to hear. I’m sure Justice Bradley, who angrily pre-castigated her colleagues (in a dissent from the order simply directing a response to the initial petitions) for their… Continue reading

“Independent and third-party voter registration growing, largely at the expense of Democrats”

June 25, 2025, 10:06 pmpolitical parties, voter registrationJustin Levitt

An NBC report with the lede: The number of registered independents and third-party members is growing as voters are breaking from the two-party system at increasing rates, according to an NBC News analysis of voter registration data. As of 2025,… Continue reading

“Pima County starts new mail-in ballot system”

June 25, 2025, 10:05 pmabsentee ballots, election administrationJustin Levitt

Details matter in election administration. Pima’s moving from a mail ballot system with two envelopes to a system with one, and expects the process to be cheaper, quicker, and easier for voters, without any meaningful compromise in security. More of… Continue reading

“Former postal carrier gets 5 years for ballot theft scheme”

June 25, 2025, 10:04 pmchicanery, fraudulent fraud squadThe Big LieJustin Levitt

From Colorado Public Radio: A Mesa County woman who was a part of a scheme to steal ballots ahead of the 2024 election was sentenced to 5 years in the department of corrections, Wednesday. , , , At the… Continue reading

Alabama touts first-in-the-nation security emblem on ballots

June 25, 2025, 10:03 pmelection administration, voting technologyballot design, election securityJustin Levitt

Plenty of states use features like watermarks on most official ballot papers (sometimes with express exceptions for ballots submitted by overseas citizens and voters with disabilities), but Alabama says it’s the first with security emblems invisible to the human eye… Continue reading