“The Riddle of Race-Based Redistricting”

August 1, 2024, 4:53 amUncategorized14th Amendment, Reconstruction, Section 2, Voting Rights ActSpencer Overton

New scholarship by Travis Crum forthcoming in the Columbia Law Review—abstract below. Congrats on a great placement Travis! In the redistricting context, the Supreme Court has interpreted the Equal Protection Clause in diametrically opposite ways, subjecting mapmakers to competing hazards… Continue reading

“Amid new ballot drop boxes limits, Florida’s shorter hours cause voting rights worry”

July 31, 2024, 7:34 amUncategorizeddrop box, vote by mailSpencer Overton

USA Today: Robert Brigham, a retired math professor at the University of Central Florida, has difficulty waiting in line to vote, because of his concern about the lack of access to a clean restroom after his treatment for colorectal… Continue reading

“12 states have new voter ID laws. Ohio’s strict rules blocked 8,000 from voting”

July 31, 2024, 7:33 amUncategorizedSpencer Overton

USA Today: Lynn Brown is an 80-year-old Democrat from Cleveland who’s been voting since she was 18. But when she tried to do so in March, she had a problem she’d never experienced. Brown, who typically votes absentee, was… Continue reading

“How the Current Supreme Court Would Look Under Biden’s Term-Limit Plan”

July 31, 2024, 7:32 amUncategorizedSupreme Court ReformSpencer Overton

NYT: President Biden proposed major changes to the Supreme Court on Monday, including 18-year term limits for justices and a binding code of conduct. The Supreme Court now includes six conservative justices and three liberal ones. Three justices, all… Continue reading

“Brief – Election Integrity Recommendations for Generative AI Developers”

July 31, 2024, 7:31 amUncategorizedArtificial Intelligence, deepfakesSpencer Overton

New report from Tim Harper at CDT: With over 80 countries and more than half of the world’s population going to the polls this year, 2024 represents the largest single year of global elections since the advent of the… Continue reading

“How to harden our defenses against an authoritarian president”

July 31, 2024, 7:30 amUncategorizedelection subversionSpencer Overton

Barton Gellman in The Washington Post: It is late afternoon on Inauguration Day 2025. Protesters fill the downtowns of American cities, enraging the newly sworn president. Send in the military, he demands. Invoke the Insurrection Act. Federalize the National… Continue reading

“New ballot-box obstacles: Mapping the states with recent laws that make it harder to vote”

July 30, 2024, 7:52 amUncategorizedVoting RestrictionsSpencer Overton

USA Today: In the wake of former President Donald Trump’s lies about a stolen election in 2020, many state legislatures implemented new laws restricting voter accessibility in key parts of the voting process. Passed in more than half… Continue reading

“ACLU and LWV sue over partisan gerrymandering of South Carolina congressional districts”

July 30, 2024, 7:50 amUncategorizedSpencer Overton

WSAV3: SOUTH CAROLINA (WSAV) – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of South Carolina, and Duffy & Young LLC filed a lawsuit today challenging partisan gerrymandering of South Carolina’s congressional districts. The lawsuit comes after redistricting following the… Continue reading

“How Ideological Diversity Moderates Republican Support for Voter Suppression Measures: The Cases of Georgia and Alabama”

July 30, 2024, 7:49 amUncategorizedvoter suppressionSpencer Overton

Abstract below of new scholarship from Jesse H. Rhodes and Adam Eichen: Why do Republicans sometimes decline to enact voter suppression measures, even when contextual conditions (unified control of state government, electoral threats from Democrats, and racial threats from African… Continue reading

“Electoral Innovation and the Alaska System: Partisanship and Populism Are Associated With Support for Top-4/Ranked-Choice Voting Rules”

July 30, 2024, 7:46 amUncategorizedSpencer Overton

Abstract below of new scholarship from Christian Robert Grose, Andrew Sinclair, Betsy Sinclair, and Mike Alvarez In 2020, Alaskans voted to adopt a nonpartisan top-4 primary followed by a ranked-choice general election. Proposals for “final four” and “final five” election… Continue reading

“Russia is relying on unwitting Americans to spread election disinformation, US officials say”

July 30, 2024, 7:45 amUncategorizeddisinformation, foreign interferenceSpencer Overton

AP: The Kremlin is turning to unwitting Americans and commercial public relations firms in Russia to spread disinformation about the U.S. presidential race, top intelligence officials said Monday, detailing the latest efforts by America’s adversaries to shape public opinion… Continue reading

“A half-million records and one app: The group behind a massive effort to ‘clean’ voter rolls”

July 30, 2024, 7:44 amUncategorizedvoter challenges, voter purgeSpencer Overton

CNN: Police officers in Texas, senior citizens at a nursing home in Pennsylvania and people who had registered to vote at a Marine base in California. They are among the thousands of voters whose right to cast a ballot… Continue reading

“Can Harris Use Biden’s Campaign Money?”

July 30, 2024, 7:43 amUncategorizedCampaign finance, FEC, Federal Election CommissionSpencer Overton

Daniel I. Weiner at Brennan: But more than $90 million was held by Biden’s principal campaign committee — the official vehicle for the Biden-Harris reelection campaign. FEC filings suggest that those funds will now be used by the Harris campaign.… Continue reading

“Echoes of Roe v. Wade in Decision Granting Immunity to Trump”

July 30, 2024, 7:40 amUncategorizedpresidential immunitySpencer Overton

Adam Liptak in NYT: “The judicial method employed by Trump v. United States resembles Roe v. Wade in the ways that matter,” Richard D. Bernstein, who filed a supporting brief in the case on behalf of conservative critics of Mr.… Continue reading