Trump Pushes Out RNC Head Ronna McDaniel and Wants Her Replaced with 2020 Election Denier

February 6, 2024, 5:06 pmelection subversion riskRick Hasen

NYT: The chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, has told former President Donald J. Trump she is planning to step down shortly after the South Carolina primary on Feb. 24, according to two people familiar with the plans.… Continue reading

“Ban on counting votes from computer codes passes Georgia Senate”

February 6, 2024, 2:47 pmvoting technologyRick Hasen

AJC: The Georgia Senate voted along party lines Tuesdayto abandon the use of bar codes on ballots. Instead, ballots would be counted from the printed text or filled-in ovals next to candidate names. Republicans supporting the bill said it would… Continue reading

The Stay Order is Likely the Whole Ball Game on Whether Trump Goes to Trial Before the Election on Federal Election Subversion Charges

February 6, 2024, 2:21 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern: When called upon to weigh in by Trump, the Supreme Court will have three likely options. First, it can deny the stay and refuse to take up the case. And it should. To… Continue reading

Some thoughts on state power to conduct presidential primaries (and why the Moore v. Harper claim may really be legally meritless)

February 6, 2024, 1:41 pmballot access, Elections ClauseDerek Muller

On the heels of some arguments raised by Marty Lederman and challenged by Richard Bernstein, I wanted to weigh in on Professor Lederman’s side–and in doing so, turn to agree with Mr. Bernstein’s sharp observation the Moore v. Harper… Continue reading

“Trump Leads Biden in Number of Small Donors”

February 6, 2024, 12:30 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

NYT: Former President Donald J. Trump was trailing President Biden in overall campaign cash on hand at the end of 2023, but he dominated fund-raising last year by at least one critical measure: his number of small donors. An analysis… Continue reading

“Janet Protasiewicz campaign official claims vulgar reason for embedding horses in ads”

February 6, 2024, 11:50 amjudicial electionsRick Hasen

Milwakee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin voters were bombarded with ads last year in the most expensive state court race in U.S. history, but they probably didn’t notice commercials paid for by Janet Protasiewicz’s campaign featured a number of horses. That… Continue reading

“Kari Lake’s leaked recording is causing trust issues in the Arizona GOP”

February 6, 2024, 11:49 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

WaPo: When Kari Lake speaks to the Republican Party faithful, she’s accustomed to cheers and adulation. But as the Arizona Senate candidate addressed hundreds of the state GOP’s most loyal activists late last month, she was booed so loudly the… Continue reading

Quick note on D.C. Circuit’s rejection of Trump’s immunity claim

February 6, 2024, 9:52 amUncategorizedNed Foley

Rick has linked to the opinion. I note briefly here that the unanimous per curium is a strong vindication specifically of fundamental election law principles. First, the opinions assumes for sake of argument that all of Trump’s conduct alleged… Continue reading

I Spoke to CNN International About the Trump Immunity Ruling and the Upcoming Disqualification Case

February 6, 2024, 9:42 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

Watch here:

Keisler and Bernstein: “Trump’s Reply Brief ‘Officer’ And ‘Office’ Arguments Miss The Mark”

February 6, 2024, 8:52 amSupreme CourtRick Hasen

The following is a guest post from Peter Keisler and Richard Bernstein, delving deep into Trump’s hypertechnical lead argument: Former President Trump’s reply brief in Trump v. Anderson makes five arguments that if, under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment,… Continue reading

“Municipal campaign spending in California shows no evidence that contribution limits increase independent expenditures”

February 6, 2024, 8:44 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

The following is a guest post from Zoe Klingmann: Critics of campaign finance reform have often argued that contribution limits have unintended consequences: rather than reducing the influence of large donors, they simply lead to more independent expenditures, which are… Continue reading

Breaking: “Federal Appeals Court Rejects Trump’s Claim of Absolute Immunity”; Trump Has Only Until Monday to Seek a Stay at SCOTUS

February 6, 2024, 7:47 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected former President Donald J. Trump’s claim that he was immune to charges of plotting to subvert the results of the 2020 election, ruling that he must go to trial on a criminal… Continue reading

“James O’Keefe and Project Veritas settle suit over bogus voter fraud claims cited by the Trump campaign”

February 6, 2024, 7:45 amelection subversion risk, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Ryan Reilly: Conservative provocateur James O’Keefe and his former organization Project Veritas have settled a lawsuit filed by a Pennsylvania postmaster after the group spread a Postal Service worker’s false claims of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election. A… Continue reading

Trump’s Reply makes Vallandigham even more relevant

February 5, 2024, 9:24 pmUncategorizedNed Foley

Previously, I posted on SSRN an analysis of why Clement Vallandigham is relevant to the question whether Congress must enact a statute to enforce section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment in order to permit a state court to adjudicate if… Continue reading

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The law of politics and the politics of law