Grateful to Manage ELB for 2 Weeks

October 13, 2025, 7:58 amUncategorizedSpencer Overton

Many thanks to Rick Hasen for inviting me to manage the Election Law Blog over the next two weeks. It’s an honor to help steward this indispensable forum for election law scholars, practitioners, and advocates—especially during such a pivotal moment… Continue reading

“Final arguments heard in Texas redistricting trial”

October 13, 2025, 7:52 amUncategorizedredistricting, Voting Rights ActSpencer Overton

ABC27 EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The fate of five congressional districts redrawn by Texas to ensure Republicans retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026 is now in the hands of three judges. Representatives of civil… Continue reading

“Supreme Court takes up Republican attack on Voting Rights Act in case over Black representation”

October 13, 2025, 7:47 amUncategorizedRedistricting; Louisiana, Section 2, Voting Rights ActSpencer Overton

Associated Press: WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican attack on a core provision of the Voting Rights Act that is designed to protect racial minorities comes to the Supreme Court this week, more than a decade after the… Continue reading

“Congress is losing its grip on the power to spend Americans’ money”

October 13, 2025, 7:34 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

WaPo: There are really three political parties in Washington, according to an old saying: Democrats, Republicans and appropriators. The latter aremembers of Congress lucky enough to get placed on the powerful committees that dole out roughly $1.6 trillion in federal… Continue reading

Watch Archived Video of My Keynote Address at the University of Oregon, “The Past, Present, and Future of the Voting Rights Act at the Supreme Court”

October 13, 2025, 7:27 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I was pleased to be part of the O’Connell conference at the University of Oregon School of Law in September. Here is video of my keynote address:

“America’s Election Expert Finds Answers Down Under”

October 13, 2025, 6:40 amUncategorizedNed Foley

During my visit to Australia, I was a guest on an episode of the Presidential Upending! podcast hosted by professors Claire Corbould and Zim Nwokora of Deakin University. I really enjoyed this wide-ranging conversation. Spending time in Australia allows one… Continue reading

NYT Features Caleb Nelson’s Essay for NYU’s Democracy Project

October 13, 2025, 6:07 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

Adam Liptak’s article in today’s NYT feature this essay that Caleb Nelson wrote for NYU’s Democracy Project series of 100 essays in 100 days. The title and subtitle of the article are Originalist ‘Bombshell’ Complicates Case on Trump’s Power… Continue reading

How I Expect the Supreme Court to Kill Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in Callais (If It Does So): Not By Direct Overruling but By Pretending They Are Simply Reinterpreting the Meaning of Section 2

October 12, 2025, 11:07 amchicanery, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I’ve written of good reason to believe the Supreme Court is going to sap Section 2 of its power in the Louisiana v. Callais case, being argued on Wednesday. I won’t rehash those arguments here. Instead I want to ask… Continue reading

An Adverse Ruling Against Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in the Callais Case Could Also Doom State Voting Rights Acts

October 12, 2025, 10:43 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I have written about the dangers of the Court killing off or significantly weakening Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, via the surprise reargument in the Louisiana v. Callais case. If the Court rules Section 2 unconstitutional because it… Continue reading

“California voters could see faster election results under new state law”

October 12, 2025, 10:24 amelection administrationRick Hasen

Cal Matters: California’s famously slow vote-counting process could see slight improvements next year after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that gives counties an earlier deadline to tally voters’ ballots. The law, Assembly Bill 5, requires county election offices… Continue reading

“Who Are the Louisiana Voters Behind a Major Supreme Court Challenge?”

October 12, 2025, 10:15 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Abbie Van Sickle for the NYT: One woman made national news when she protested the Covid-19 vaccine at her local City Council. Another is a member of the Trumpettes, a group of women united in their ardent support for the… Continue reading

Maybe Justice Barrett Should Be Calling for Having Conversations with Those One Disagrees with through a Network in Addition to FOX News or Other Friendly Outlets and Journalists

October 12, 2025, 10:11 amSupreme CourtRick Hasen

From Politico’s roundup of this morning’s Sunday talk shows: Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on having conversations amid a wave of political violence, on “Fox News Sunday”: “I feel like when I talk to people, people are not happy with… Continue reading

“Constitutional common sense absent in 6th Circuit’s HB 1 ruling: Mark Brown”

October 12, 2025, 10:05 amcampaign finance, direct democracyRick Hasen

Mark Brown oped in Cleveland Plain Dealer: Democracy in Ohio suffered a setback when the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati last month refused to block Ohio’s House Bill 1 ban on “foreign nationals” “[m]ak[ing] a contribution …… Continue reading

“Federal Judges, Warning of ‘Judicial Crisis,’ Fault Supreme Court’s Emergency Orders”

October 11, 2025, 9:00 amSupreme CourtRick Hasen

NYT: More than three dozen federal judges have told The New York Times that the Supreme Court’s flurry of brief, opaque emergency orders in cases related to the Trump administration have left them confused about how to proceed in those… Continue reading