“Youngkin ‘purge’ removed nearly 3,400 legal Virginia voters from rolls”

October 30, 2023, 9:35 amfelon votingRick Hasen

WaPo: Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s elections team has admitted in the run-up to pivotal General Assembly elections that it removed nearly 3,400 qualified voters from the state’s rolls, far higher than the administration’s previous estimate of 270. Elections officials under Youngkin… Continue reading

“In Mississippi, most voters will have no choice about who represents them in the Legislature”

October 30, 2023, 7:44 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

AP: After being in office for over a decade, Mississippi state Sen. Dean Kirby got challenged in the Republican primary. He won with 70% of the vote. That was in 2003 — and it remains the last time Kirby faced… Continue reading

“Danger in Plain Sight: The Risk of Triggering a Contingent Election in 2024”

October 30, 2023, 7:43 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Beau Tremitiere and Aisha Woodward at Lawfare.

“Most Republicans say Trump didn’t even try to overturn the election”

October 30, 2023, 7:32 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Aaron Blake: Earlier this year, we learned about how the American political right’s most trusted news outlet proactively aired claims that its higher-ups understood to be baseless and false, and resisted fact-checking them. Fox News’s viewers were sold a fantasy… Continue reading

One year later – “What the litigation path of eligibility challenges to Donald Trump may look like”

October 30, 2023, 6:45 amballot accessDerek Muller

Just about one year ago, in November 2022, I wrote the following: If I had a crystal ball into the future of litigation surrounding Donald Trump’s candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, I would project something like this: In… Continue reading

“Federal Judge Reinstates Gag Order on Trump in Election Case”

October 29, 2023, 7:43 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: federal judge reinstated a gag order on former President Donald J. Trump on Sunday that had been temporarily placed on hold nine days earlier, reimposing restrictions on what Mr. Trump can say about witnesses and prosecutors in the case… Continue reading

Colorado trial court botches interpretation of Electoral Count Reform Act in rush to get Trump ballot access case to hearing

October 29, 2023, 3:07 pmelectoral collegeDerek Muller

Back in 2015, I suggested that courts should proceed with “caution” when exercising review over qualifications disputes involving presidential candidates. Other entities are involved in the process, and the state legislature may not have empowered a court or… Continue reading

“Pence Bows Out of 2024 Presidential Race That Trump Is Dominating”

October 28, 2023, 5:12 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: Former Vice President Mike Pence, who spent four years dutifully serving President Donald J. Trump but refused to carry out Mr. Trump’s demand that he block the 2020 election results, ended his presidential bid on Saturday, with a final… Continue reading

“After ‘Glimmer of a Moment,’ Mississippi Once Again Shuts Out Aspiring Voters”

October 27, 2023, 4:37 pmfelon votingRick Hasen

Bolts: Paloma Wu allowed herself a moment of celebration in August, when a panel of three federal judges on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a shock decision to strike down Mississippi’s longstanding practice of permanently stripping voting rights… Continue reading

“Wisconsin judge rules that GOP-controlled Senate’s vote to fire top elections official had no effect”

October 27, 2023, 3:30 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

AP: A vote by the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate last month to fire the state’s nonpartisan top elections official had no legal effect, and lawmakers are barred from ousting her while a lawsuit plays out, a Dane County judge ruled on… Continue reading

“Opinion: Who in their right mind wants the House to pick our next president?”

October 27, 2023, 3:18 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Doug Jones CNN oped on the potential for a contingent election in 2024.

Did the Threat of Political Violence Against Members of Congress Prevent the Conviction of Trump After His Second Impeachment?

October 27, 2023, 7:03 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

Explosive claim (if true) via Mediaite: Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) revealed to biographer McKay Coppins that the threat of physical violence effectively kept many elected Republicans from voting to impeach or convict President Donald Trump, even though they wanted to.… Continue reading

“Prosecutors Withdraw Second Subpoena in Trump Fund-Raising Inquiry”

October 27, 2023, 6:51 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: Federal prosecutors have quietly withdrawn a subpoena seeking records from former President Donald J. Trump’s 2020 campaign as part of their investigation into whether Mr. Trump’s political and fund-raising operations committed any crimes as he sought to stay in… Continue reading