Impressive new vote.gov redesign

August 6, 2024, 5:47 pmelection administration, voter registrationelection informationJustin Levitt

On today’s anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act, the Vice President name-checked vote.gov. And it looks like the site recently got a facelift that’s a giant improvement over its effectively 8-bit predecessor (which wasn’t all that… Continue reading

“Governing the House with Multiple Parties”

August 6, 2024, 3:24 pmpolitical partiesgovernance, Proportional Representation, structural reformTabatha Abu El-Haj

Lee Drutman and Rob Oldham at New American have published a new report exploring how multiple parties in Congress might affect governance. This is huge. Any move toward structural reform must demonstrate that legislatures would be better able to deliver… Continue reading

Democratic primary for Arizona’s open 3d congressional district to go to automatic recount

August 6, 2024, 3:17 pmprimaries, recounts2024 Primary Election CycleTabatha Abu El-Haj

AP News: “Former Phoenix City Council member Yassamin Ansari led former state lawmaker Raquel Terán by 42 votes, with 42,819 ballots counted — a margin of 0.1 percentage points. . . . Under Arizona law, a recount is triggered… Continue reading

Litigation Stalls Utah’s Republican Primary for 2nd Congressional District

August 6, 2024, 3:13 pmprimaries, recounts2024 Primary Election CycleTabatha Abu El-Haj

AP News: “Results of a recount completed Monday in the Republican primary for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District showed incumbent U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy still narrowly leads her opponent, who preemptively filed a lawsuit contesting the results. The Associated Press… Continue reading

Campaign Finance Roundtable

August 6, 2024, 9:40 amcampaign financeTabatha Abu El-Haj

The Election Law Journal sponsors a panel on the practice of “redboxing,” a tactic used by candidates to coordinate with the political action committees that are supporting them. Moderator:Marc Meredith, PhDUniversity of PennsylvaniaParticipants:Saurav GhoshCampaign Legal CenterAbby WoodUniversity of Southern CaliforniaRichard… Continue reading

Selection of Governor Walz–Implicates Pay-to-Play Rules

August 6, 2024, 7:55 amcampaign finance2024 Election Cycle, Pay-to-PlayTabatha Abu El-Haj

Jason Abel and his colleagues at Steptoe flag that selecting a sitting Governor as a running mate implicates critical pay-to-pay rules. In this helpful brief, the authors lay out three sources of pay-to-play rules that now constrain the Harris campaign’s… Continue reading

“Jenna Ellis, Former Trump Lawyer, Will Cooperate in Arizona Election Fraud Case”

August 6, 2024, 5:57 amUncategorized2020 Election Conspiracies, The Big LieTabatha Abu El-Haj

N.Y. Times: Ellis is one of 18 individuals charged by Arizona for their involvement in efforts to overturn Arizona’s election results in 2020. Arizona agreed to drop nine fraud, forgery, and conspiracy charges in exchange for her cooperation and… Continue reading

RFK’s Ballot Access Problem

August 6, 2024, 5:45 amballot accessindependent presidential candidate, RFKTabatha Abu El-Haj

RFK appears to have lied about his N.Y. residency, which may cost him a spot on the N.Y. ballot. At a hearing yesterday, the landlord of the address listed testified that RFK had never been his tenant.

Quick Update: “Supreme Court rejects Missouri’s long-shot bid to block Trump’s gag order and sentencing in hush money case”

August 5, 2024, 2:38 pmchicaneryTabatha Abu El-Haj

NBC News essentially reports that the Supreme Court functioned as a proper Court–rejecting a political stunt masked as a legal claim.

Ground Game 2024

August 5, 2024, 7:54 amvoter initiatives, voter registration2024 Election Cycle, voter turnoutTabatha Abu El-Haj

Harris just picked up a big endorsement. The AP reports that UNITE HERE has endorsed Harris, promising “to have its members knock on more than 3.3 million doors for Harris in swing states that include Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, Arizona and… Continue reading

“With voting under attack, Arizona schools don’t want to be polling locations”

August 5, 2024, 6:24 amUncategorizedvoter turnoutTabatha Abu El-Haj

This Washington Post article should be read in light of all we know about the social nature of voting and the importance of fun and festivity to turnout (think Souls to the Polls) and the data on how important it… Continue reading

“Elon Musk PAC being investigated by Michigan secretary of state for potential violations”

August 5, 2024, 6:12 amvoter registration2024 election cyle, Misinformation, voter suppressionTabatha Abu El-Haj

New development in the story Spencer Overton posted about how Musk’s pro-Trump PAC is funding efforts to redirect voters in swing states away from official voter registration sites, while leaving them with the false impression that they have registered to… Continue reading

“Secretaries of state urge Musk to fix AI chatbot spreading false election info”

August 5, 2024, 5:57 amcheap speechAI, election misinformationTabatha Abu El-Haj

Washington Post reports that several Secretaries of State are sending an open letter to Elon Musk, urging him to rein in his “anti-woke’ chatbot, Grok, which has already generated serious election misinformation. ” The letter . . . urges Musk… Continue reading

Turning to Tabatha . . .

August 4, 2024, 6:58 pmUncategorizedSpencer Overton

Thanks to Rick Hasen for the opportunity to guest blog over the past 14 days. In maintaining this blog Rick builds community and provides a service to us all. I’m appreciative of the blog and his many other contributions to… Continue reading