“Judges say unsolicited pizza deliveries are meant to intimidate them”

May 11, 2025, 7:55 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

WaPo: Federal judges say unsolicited pizza deliveries to jurists’ homes that began in February may number in the hundreds across at least seven states, prompting increased security concerns and a demand from a Senate leader for a Justice Department… Continue reading

“Trump made historic gains with minority voters in 2024. They are already pulling back in 2025”

May 11, 2025, 7:48 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Ron Brownstein: In 2024, Trump improved his performance among some big voting blocs that have historically favored Democrats, including Latinos, younger men, non-White voters without a college degree, and, to some extent, Black men. Trump’s advances generated exuberant predictions… Continue reading

“Trump, Raking In Cash, Expands His Power in the G.O.P. Money World”

May 10, 2025, 1:20 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: President Trump is harnessing the Republican Party’s all-encompassing deference to him to exert even greater control over the G.O.P. big-money world, which had long been one of the party’s final remaining redoubts of Trump skepticism. For years, the super… Continue reading

“The Electoral Connection to Constraining Executive Power”

May 10, 2025, 10:37 amUncategorizedNed Foley

A new Common Ground Democracy essay. At the conference for which this essay was written, the view was expressed by some that the only solution to the current presidential attack on the rule of law is for Democrats in 2028… Continue reading

May 15 Event: “The FEC at 50: Broken and in Need of Reform”

May 9, 2025, 10:14 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

May 15 Common Cause event.

Justice Souter, Democracy Champion, Has Passed Away

May 9, 2025, 7:52 amelection law biz, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Justice David Souter passed away yesterday at age 85. He was nominated by a Republican president but skewing liberal in some key areas. He was smart in his questions on the bench and meticulous in his opinion-writing. I did not… Continue reading

“Trump Seeks to Strip Away Legal Tool Key to Civil Rights Enforcement”

May 9, 2025, 7:37 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: President Trump has ordered federal agencies to abandon the use of a longstanding legal tool used to root out discrimination against minorities, a move that could defang the nation’s bedrock civil rights law. In an expansive executive order,… Continue reading

“How Will We Know When We Have Lost Our Democracy?”

May 9, 2025, 7:33 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

Steve Letvitsky, Lucian Way, and Daniel Ziblatt NYT oped: How will Americans know when we have lost our democracy? Authoritarianism is harder to recognize than it used to be. Most 21st-century autocrats are elected. Rather than violently suppress opposition like… Continue reading

“Most Californians favor proving citizenship to vote, poll finds”

May 9, 2025, 7:30 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

LA Times: While California voters are sharply divided along partisan lines when it comes to election integrity and voter fraud, they broadly support a politically-charged proposal from President Trump and other Republicans to require first-time voters to provide government-issued identification… Continue reading

“2 lawsuits challenging Wisconsin’s congressional map filed with state Supreme Court”

May 9, 2025, 7:26 amredistrictingRick Hasen

WPR: Two lawsuits have been filed asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to declare the state’s congressional map unconstitutional ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The lawsuits come roughly a month after liberals retained their majority on the court with the… Continue reading

Breaking: Three-Judge District Court Finds Alabama’s Congressional Redistricting Plan Intentionally Discriminated Against Black Voters Updated

May 8, 2025, 12:43 pmcourt decisions, redistricting, Uncategorized, Voting Rights ActTravis Crum

The court’s 571-page opinion is here. This decision is on remand from the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in Allen v. Milligan. This is the latest decision in the long-running Section 2 litigation against Alabama’s congressional redistricting plans. Back in… Continue reading

“Appellate Court says NY’s Even Year Election Law is constitutional, reversing lower court”

May 8, 2025, 7:29 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Syracuse.com: Five judges on an appellate court today unanimously upheld the constitutionality of New York’s so-called Even Year Election Law, reversing an Onondaga County judge’s decision. The 2023 state law, which would move most town and county elections to even-numbered… Continue reading

“Texas Attorney General Announces Vote Fraud and ‘Harvesting’ Charges”

May 8, 2025, 7:20 amchicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: A half-dozen people, including a county judge, two City Council members and a former county election administrator, were indicted in Texas on Wednesday for “vote harvesting” and tampering with evidence, elevating Attorney General Ken Paxton’s charges of voter… Continue reading