“Democracy Without Stabilizers”

October 4, 2025, 6:18 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

Among other essays we published this week at NYU’s Democracy Project, we published three essays from the three of us who founded and direct the Project — Bob Bauer, Sam Issacharoff, and me. I’ll blog about each piece separately,… Continue reading

“Maryland House speaker says ‘now is the time’ to take up redistricting”

October 3, 2025, 1:20 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Baltimore Banner: The leader of Maryland’s House of Delegates is pushing her colleagues on redistricting, saying she is “eager” and “willing” to consider redrawing congressional lines to help match changes made in GOP-controlled states. House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones’… Continue reading

“Richard Bernstein To Elect Is to Choose: Election Day Sets When Mail-In Voters Must Mail Their Choices”

October 3, 2025, 1:18 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

Richard Bernstein has posted this draft article. From the summary: Perhaps the legal issue that will affect the most votes in upcoming federal elections is whether, in a federal election, a statute of a state or D.C. may permit… Continue reading

More litigation over federal access to the voter files (and and and)

October 3, 2025, 11:45 amDepartment of Justice, voter registrationprivacy actJustin Levitt

On Tuesday, a group of nonprofits and private citizens sued DHS, SSA, and DOJ, alleging “a months-long campaign to access, collect, and consolidate vast troves of personal data about millions of U.S. citizens and residents stored at multiple federal agencies,”… Continue reading

The Filibuster and the Shutdown

October 3, 2025, 10:23 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

Over at Balkinization, David Super, a congressional process expert, has these comments about why preservation of the filibuster is, in his view, in the best interests of both parties. Thus, Super suggests Republicans are unlikely to end the filibuster to… Continue reading

“Poll: More Americans now agree political violence may be necessary to right the country”

October 3, 2025, 7:36 ampolitical violenceRick Hasen

NPR: Three in 10 people now say that Americans may have to resort to violence to get the country back on track, according to a new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll. To be sure, a strong majority disagree with that (70%),… Continue reading

“How Trump’s 2020 election falsehoods are shaping a marquee Georgia race”

October 3, 2025, 7:33 amfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

WaPo: President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn his defeat at the ballot box in 2020 is becoming a stark dividing line in the Georgia governor’s race, where Republicans who fractured into warring factionsover the failed push in the state are… Continue reading

“MAGA’s Top ‘Voter Fraud’ Watchdog Votes in a Swing State. He Doesn’t Live There.”

October 3, 2025, 7:31 amfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Jacqueline Sweet & Marisa Kabas: Jack Posobiec is very concerned about voter fraud. An influential MAGA voice and prominent conspiracy theorist, he’s perhaps best known for amplifying the 2016 “Pizzagate” conspiracy, which culminated in a man firing a gun… Continue reading

“When may a candidate challenge election rules in federal court?”

October 3, 2025, 7:28 amcampaignsRick Hasen

SCOTUSBlog preview: In federal elections in Illinois, votes by mail are counted until 14 days after the polls close, so long as they are postmarked by election day. Democrats generally favor the rule because they believe that the majority of… Continue reading

“A GOP push to restrict voting by overseas U.S. citizens continues before 2026 midterms”

October 1, 2025, 11:05 amvotingRick Hasen

NPR: For many American citizens living abroad, making sure their ballots are returned correctly and on time hundreds or thousands of miles away, back in the United States, can be tough. But with the 2026 midterm election approaching, U.S. expatriates… Continue reading

Destroying Section 2 in Order to Save It

October 1, 2025, 7:56 amUncategorizedNicholas Stephanopoulos

At first glance, the SG’s brief in Callais seems less radical than those of the appellees and of Louisiana. The latter argue that Section 2 is flatly unconstitutional, while the SG’s brief merely recommends modifying the Gingles framework in certain respects. The Gingles framework certainly isn’t… Continue reading

“Why K Street is now living in fear of Trump’s retribution campaign”

October 1, 2025, 7:40 amauthoritarian threats in US, lobbyingRick Hasen

Politico: Donald Trump’s attempt to jawbone Microsoft into firing former Biden DOJ official Lisa Monaco as a top D.C. operative has put K Street on high alert about who they hire. Much of the private sector is paralyzed by Trump’s… Continue reading

“An Expert-Sourced Measure of Judicial Ideology”

October 1, 2025, 7:38 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Kevin Cope has written this article for Political Analysis. Abstract: This article develops the first dynamic method for systematically estimating the ideologies and other traits of nearly the entire federal judiciary. The Jurist-Derived Judicial Ideology Scores (JuDJIS) method derives from… Continue reading

“Federal judge rejects racial gerrymandering challenge to NC Senate map”

September 30, 2025, 3:40 pmredistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

News and Observer: A federal judge upheld North Carolina’s Senate map Tuesday, rejecting claims that Republican lawmakers had illegally drawn the districts to dilute the voting power of Black voters. Challengers to the map argued that it split up Black… Continue reading