“1.5% of all absentee/mail-in ballots were rejected in 2022”

August 15, 2023, 5:39 pmUncategorizedabsentee ballotsNed Foley

Ballotpedia News reports (via Electionline). This rate was “roughly equal to the 1.4% rejection rate in 2018, the most recent midterm election, and up from the 1.0% and 0.8% rejection rates in the 2016 and 2020 presidential election cycles,… Continue reading

“States need to pay up to secure 2024 elections, experts warn”

August 15, 2023, 5:27 pmUncategorizedelection administrationNed Foley

Axios reports. “Presidential elections cost $2 billion-$5 billion to administer nationally, yet most of the nation’s 10,000 local jurisdictions are woefully underfunded, Charles Stewart III, director of the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, told the [NCSL] conference. …… Continue reading

“Proposed Legislation Would Restore Voting for Released Felons”

August 15, 2023, 5:22 pmUncategorizedfelon disenfranchisement, Shelby CountyNed Foley

Governing reports. “The Democracy Restoration Act would restore voting rights for released felons in federal elections only. In states where eligibility doesn’t kick in during probation or parole, the voter would only be able to fill out a federal ballot,… Continue reading

States have the power to judge the qualifications of presidential candidates and exclude ineligible candidates from the ballot, if they want to use it

August 15, 2023, 11:12 amelectoral college, legislation and legislaturesDerek Muller

Rick H. links to a forthcoming article by Professors Michael Stokes Paulsen and Will Baude on Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, and specifically the application of that section to former president Donald Trump. I am sure the paper will… Continue reading

“Forget the Trump trials. He might already be ineligible for 2024.”

August 15, 2023, 11:02 amUncategorizedJanuary 6, Section 3, The Big LieNed Foley

That’s the new headline the Post is currently using for my column published this morning. I like this headline because I do think the main focus, at least for election law purposes, should be on the issue of Trump’s status… Continue reading

Kemp’s prebuttal of Trump’s claim of a report next Monday

August 15, 2023, 10:42 amUncategorizedThe Big LieNed Foley

Kemp’s post on X: “The 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen. “For nearly three years now, anyone with evidence of fraud has failed to come forward – under oath – and prove anything in a court of law.… Continue reading

“Alabama Republicans defend not creating a second majority Black district in court”

August 15, 2023, 10:34 amUncategorizedredistricting, Voting Rights Act; Section 2Ned Foley

Zach Montellaro in POLITICO. “Hearings over the new map kicked off in federal court in Alabama on Monday, and the state is once again arguing that it is not illegally diluting the power of Black voters. This week’s hearing will… Continue reading

“The First Amendment Is No Defense for Trump’s Alleged Crimes”

August 15, 2023, 10:26 amUncategorizedJanuary 6, The Big LieNed Foley

Alan Rozenshtein in The Atlantic: “Some have criticized the indictment for taking a position on the predicate to all of Trump’s actions—whether the 2020 election was stolen—and concluding that Trump in fact lost, fair and square. But far from… Continue reading

My New One at Slate: “Why the Fulton County Indictment Is Different From Jack Smith’s Case”

August 15, 2023, 7:45 amchicanery, election subversion riskRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: If the recent federal indictment of Donald Trump on charges related to his attempt to subvert the 2020 presidential election was a streamlined surgical strike aimed at assuring a clean case… Continue reading

“One state can make the Supreme Court decide if Trump can be president”

August 15, 2023, 5:13 amUncategorizedJanuary 6, Section 3Ned Foley

My opinion column in the Washington Post, which addresses potential litigation over Trump’s disqualification under section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, especially in light of the new Baude-Paulsen law review article; some excerpts: “None of the criminal prosecutions of… Continue reading

Wall Street Journal’s Useful Scorecard of Charges

August 15, 2023, 5:00 amUncategorizedJanuary 6, The Big LieNed Foley

Lists number of charges against each defendant. Trump and Giuliani: 13. Eastman: 9. Meadows: 2. Chesebro: 7. Clark & Ellis: 2. Powell: 7. Etc., Etc.

Norm Eisen on the Georgia indictment

August 15, 2023, 4:53 amUncategorizedJanuary 6, The Big LieNed Foley

Co-authored with Amy Lee Copeland in the N.Y. Times,, a useful comparison to Jack Smith’s federal indictment of Trump: “The large cast of defendants populates a complete conspiracy chain of command and features the famous (Mr. Trump, his chief… Continue reading

Peter Baker on the Georgia indictment of Trump

August 15, 2023, 4:41 amUncategorizedJanuary 6, The Big LieNed Foley

Peter Baker’s analysis in the N.Y. Times. “The Georgia indictment, powerful as it is in its language, has been priced into the market, as the Wall Street types would put it. … “’The accumulated indictments are kind of a white… Continue reading

“Trump, 18 others indicted for trying to overthrow 2020 Georgia election”

August 14, 2023, 10:10 pmelection subversion riskRick Hasen

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Former President Donald Trump orchestrated a sweeping criminal enterprise, committing more than a dozen felonies, as he tried and failed to overturn his defeat in Georgia’s 2020 election, according to an indictment handed up Monday by a… Continue reading