“As Texas dives into federal SAVE database to verify voter citizenship, some experts are worried”

July 23, 2025, 5:00 amvoter registrationDan Tokaji

Votebeat: Texas is one of the earliest states to start using the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ overhauled SAVE database to check voters’ eligibility. That comes after the Trump administration, in its campaign to eliminate the risk of noncitizen… Continue reading

Corey Brettschneider and Aidan Calvelli Review My Book, “A Real Right to Vote,” in Political Science Quarterly

July 22, 2025, 4:55 pmReal Right to VoteRick Hasen

A very thoughtful review essay.

“Miami postponed its 2025 elections. A judge says it’s illegal. Why did the city do it?”

July 22, 2025, 10:27 amelection administrationDan Tokaji

Washington Post: A circuit court judge ruled Monday that a controversial decision by Miami commissioners in June to postpone the city’s November elections until 2026 without voter approval is unconstitutional and unlawful. The ruling by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Valerie Manno… Continue reading

USC Report on California’s 2024 Turnout Drop

July 22, 2025, 10:17 amvotingDan Tokaji

From the Center for Inclusive Democracy: After historically high turnout in the 2020 presidential election amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2024 presidential election saw a decline in turnout across California. Despite the hopeful expectations of many that the voter… Continue reading

“How Democrats might stop the Ohio GOP from gerrymandering again”

July 22, 2025, 10:13 amredistrictingDan Tokaji

The Downballot: “Ohio must pass a new congressional map this year, but Democrats are threatening to qualify a referendum for the ballot that could stop Republicans from further gerrymandering the state’s already skewed districts.”

“Kenneth Chesebro and the Ethics of Election Subversion”

July 22, 2025, 8:57 amchicanery, election law bizRick Hasen

Sung Hui Kim has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Article examines the role of attorney Kenneth Chesebro in orchestrating the “fake electors plot” following the 2020 U.S. presidential election. It traces Chesebro’s transformation from a… Continue reading

Brennan Center: “Homeland Security’s ‘SAVE’ Program Exacerbates Risks to Voters”

July 22, 2025, 7:28 amfraudulent fraud squad, voter registrationDan Tokaji

Jasleen Singh and Spencer Reynolds: The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or “SAVE,” program was designed to help states verify the citizenship and immigration status of people applying for government benefits…. But SAVE’s results — sometimes based on incomplete… Continue reading

“Trump Admin Defying Court By Stonewalling on Anti-Voting Order, Plaintiffs Say”

July 22, 2025, 4:59 amabsentee ballots, Department of Justice, Election Assistance Commission, voter registrationDan Tokaji

Democracy Docket: The Trump administration is defying a court order by refusing to say how federal agencies may be implementing President Donald Trump’s sweeping anti-voting executive order, pro-voting groups and Democrats alleged in a filing Friday. Among the order’s… Continue reading

“Texas Republicans Look to Jam Democrats With Vote on Redistricting”

July 22, 2025, 4:52 amredistrictingDan Tokaji

NYT: “Republicans in the Texas Legislature are planning to hold off on voting on measures to address the state’s deadly July 4 flooding until after they approve a partisan redistricting of Texas’ U.S. House boundaries, hoping to thwart Democrats’… Continue reading

“NC county election boards weren’t allowed to meet for a month. State Chairman says no harm done”

July 22, 2025, 4:49 amelection administrationDan Tokaji

NC Newsline: North Carolina’s county election boards have not been able to meet for about a month, requiring the state Board of Elections at its meeting Monday to allow newly appointed officials to make some overdue decisions about upcoming… Continue reading

“Jim Jordan subpoenas DOJ prosecutor who helped investigate Donald Trump”

July 22, 2025, 4:43 amDepartment of Justice, election subversion riskDan Tokaji

Politico: “The Ohio Republican sent the subpoena to Thomas Windom, former senior assistant special counsel who worked under then-special counsel Jack Smith. Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland had appointed Smith to lead the Justice Department’s cases around Trump’s retention of… Continue reading

“Why Can Trump Sue You, But You Can’t Sue Him?”

July 22, 2025, 4:40 amauthoritarian threats in US, Supreme CourtDan Tokaji

Ankush Khardori in Politico Magazine: The Supreme Court has been steadily building up an extraordinary level of immunity for presidents, on both civil and criminal fronts. And Trump has benefited from — and exploited — the law like no… Continue reading

Congressional Freethought Caucus Asks IRS to Reconsider Decision to Allow Church Endorsements of Candidates

July 22, 2025, 4:33 amtax law and election lawDan Tokaji

Here’s the letter opposing the proposed consent decree in National Religious Broadcasters Association et al v. Long, arguing that it adopts a “stunningly inaccurate reinterpretation of the Johnson Amendment.”

“5 years after Ohio’s $60M bribery scandal, critics say more could be done to prevent a repeat”

July 22, 2025, 4:22 ambribery, campaign financeDan Tokaji

AP: Five years after a $60 million bribery scheme funded by FirstEnergy Corp. came to light in Ohio, expert observers say the resulting prosecutions, lawsuits, penalties and legislation haven’t led to enough change and accountability to prevent politicians and… Continue reading

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The law of politics and the politics of law