“The Fundraising Stunts Are Getting Out of Control”

July 16, 2023, 10:47 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

The Atlantic: You don’t become a billionaire without being clever with money, but Doug Burgum’s latest scheme is a head-scratcher: The North Dakota governor is offering $20 gift cards to people who donate one greenback dollar to his presidential… Continue reading

“Trump Asks Georgia’s Highest Court to Block Election-Interference Investigation”

July 16, 2023, 4:24 amelection subversion riskDan Tokaji

WSJ: Former President Donald Trump has asked Georgia’s highest court to effectively shut down the criminal investigation into efforts to overturn his November 2020 election defeat in the state, saying his rights were violated by the district attorney handling… Continue reading

“Arlington reverses use of ranked-choice voting system for fall elections”

July 16, 2023, 4:20 amalternative voting systemsDan Tokaji

WaPo: The Arlington County Board declined to move forward Saturday with ranked-choice voting for November’s general election, halting the Northern Virginia suburb’s experiment with the increasingly popular voting system, for now. Local lawmakers had voted last fall to institute… Continue reading

“No Labels releases proposals to guide third-party presidential ticket”

July 16, 2023, 4:18 amballot access, third partiesDan Tokaji

WaPo: “The group is working across the country to get state ballot access for a potential third-party presidential run next year, sparking widespread concern from Democrats and anti-Trump conservatives that the effort could aide the election of former president… Continue reading

“Alabama Scrambles to Redraw Its Voting Map After a Supreme Court Surprise”

July 16, 2023, 4:15 amredistricting, Supreme CourtDan Tokaji

NYT: Under orders from the Supreme Court to produce a voting map that no longer illegally dilutes the power of Black voters in Alabama, the state’s lawmakers are now facing a high-stakes scramble to come up with an acceptable… Continue reading

“Key takeaways from the latest presidential campaign finance reports”

July 16, 2023, 4:10 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

At the top of WaPo’s list: “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spent nearly $8 million during the first six weeks of his campaign and he is relying heavily on big-money backers to fund his effort, according to the new disclosures… Continue reading

Federal District Judge Orders Kari Lake’s Legal Team to Pay $122,200 in Sanctions

July 14, 2023, 6:49 pmelection subversion riskDan Tokaji

Here’s the order from U.S. District Judge John J. Tuchi, issuing sanctions under Rule 11 for claims regarding Arizona’s elections that lacked an adequate basis in fact and law (h/t Derek Muller). The order includes extended discussion of… Continue reading

“Bipartisan Election Officials Warn NC GOP Changes Could Cause Disruption at the Polls”

July 14, 2023, 6:34 pmabsentee ballots, election administration, provisional ballotsDan Tokaji

Raleigh News & Observer: “A bipartisan group of senior county election officials cautioned legislators that pending bills could cause significant disruptions to voting, threatening the very election integrity that the bills are supposed to address.” More from WRAL News… Continue reading

“Rep. George Santos pays himself back, spends little money campaigning”

July 14, 2023, 6:29 pmcampaign financeDan Tokaji

WaPo: “The campaign of embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who announced in April that he is seeking reelection, reported raising little money during the past fundraising quarter, spending virtually nothing on campaigning and paying Santos $85,000 to offset some… Continue reading

“Changes in state election laws have little impact on results, new study finds”

July 14, 2023, 6:21 pmThe Voting WarsDan Tokaji

From States Newsroom, more on the Grimmer-Hersh paper (available here).

“Americans are widely pessimistic about democracy in the United States, an AP-NORC poll finds”

July 14, 2023, 1:02 pmUncategorizedDan Tokaji

From AP, more on the AP-NORC poll: “Only about 1 in 10 U.S. adults give high ratings to the way democracy is working in the United States or how well it represents the interests of most Americans…. The… Continue reading

Coats & Roemer: “Russia, China, Iran plotting to tamper with 2024 election, but we can stop them”

July 14, 2023, 12:56 pmelection subversion riskDan Tokaji

From Dan Coats and Tim Roemer’s IndyStar op-ed: “It’s no secret that foreign countries including Russia, China and Iran have escalated their election meddling efforts in recent years in an attempt to destabilize our political system, sow discord and… Continue reading