“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

“When Partisan Primaries Produce Unrepresentative Extremists…”

May 8, 2025, 7:11 amUncategorizedNed Foley

New Common Ground Democracy essay on Philip Bump’s Washington Post column.

6th Circuit finds Michigan engaged in “reasonable efforts” to remove dead voters from voter rolls

May 8, 2025, 4:21 amcourt decisions, election administrationDerek Muller

Unanimous panel decision in Public Interest Law Foundations v. Benson. No standing for plaintiffs for some of the claims, and I’m a bit surprised the panel made no effort to examine whether there’s a private right of action to… Continue reading

“Dark Money Hit a Record High of $1.9 Billion in 2024 Federal Races”

May 7, 2025, 4:18 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Anna Massoglia for the Brennan Center: The 2024 federal election cycle was the most secretive since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010. Dark money groups, nonprofits and shell companies that spend on elections without revealing their donors, plowed more than… Continue reading

My New One in The Atlantic: “America Needs More Judges Like Judge Myers; He did the right thing in North Carolina’s Supreme Court fight, and he deserves praise.”

May 7, 2025, 1:43 pmelection subversion riskRick Hasen

I have written this piece for The Atlantic. It begins: When judges act as partisan hacks, it is important to condemn their conduct. Last month, four Republican Justices on the North Carolina Supreme Court blessed the anti-democratic attempt by fellow… Continue reading

“A New Crackdown on Ballot Initiatives Unnerves Florida Organizers”

May 7, 2025, 1:22 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Bolts: Volunteers with the League of Women Voters of Florida are often seen at farmers markets, book clubs, parades, and other gathering places, collecting petitions and raising awareness on new campaigns. The League in recent years has become a… Continue reading

“Jefferson Griffin concedes North Carolina Supreme Court race”

May 7, 2025, 7:36 amelection subversion risk, judicial electionsRick Hasen

AP: The Republican challenger for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat has conceded last November’s election to the Democratic incumbent. Jefferson Griffin said in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday that he would not appeal a federal … Continue reading

The price of Pullman abstention in election litigation cases

May 6, 2025, 6:14 pmcourt decisionsDerek Muller

On February 4, a unanimous per curiam panel of the Fourth Circuit concluded the federal courts should abstain from involvement in the Griffin v. Riggs election dispute. The court cited Pullman abstention: Pullman abstention may be applied when “there is… Continue reading