“North Carolina Republicans finalize passage of an elections bill that could withstand a veto”

August 17, 2023, 9:19 amUncategorizedelection administrationNed Foley

NBC News. “The Republican-controlled North Carolina legislature finalized a far-reaching elections bill late Wednesday that would end a grace period for counting mailed absentee ballots, toughen same-day registration rules and empower partisan observers at polling places. … “The bill… Continue reading

“DeSantis Allies Reveal Debate Strategy”

August 17, 2023, 9:12 amUncategorizedCampaign financeNed Foley

N.Y. Times. Is there a campaign finance law angle here, given coordination rules? From the article: “The New York Times was alerted to the existence of the documents by a person not connected to the DeSantis campaign or the… Continue reading

“Request for Information: Understanding and Examining the Political Activities of Tax- Exempt Organizations under Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code”

August 17, 2023, 9:06 amUncategorizedCampaign financeNed Foley

From the House Ways and Means Committee: press release and letter.

“Trump triggers the politics of emergency”

August 17, 2023, 7:50 amUncategorizedJanuary 6Ned Foley

Important Jason Willick column in the Washington Post on the perilous nature of disqualification politics: “Baude and Paulsen concede that their sweeping constitutional vision of disqualification-for-disloyalty could “perhaps” be “a little dangerous” for ‘First Amendment liberties of speech, press,… Continue reading

“Burt Jones braces for legal fight in Fulton County election probe”

August 17, 2023, 7:21 amUncategorizedJanuary 6, The Big LieNed Foley

The Jolt in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. “Lt. Gov. Burt Jones avoided charges in the far-ranging Fulton County indictment filed Monday that accused former President Donald Trump and key allies of a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results.… Continue reading

“With the Latest Trump Indictment, Mind These Lessons From the South”

August 16, 2023, 6:07 pmUncategorizedThe Big LieNed Foley

Andrew Michael Kreis in a N.Y. Times opinion essay discusses the Georgia indictment in relationship to the collapse of Reconstruction” “The democratic failures of that era shared three common attributes. The political process was neither free nor fair, as citizens… Continue reading

“The ‘brains’ behind fake Trump electors was once a liberal Democrat”

August 16, 2023, 5:45 pmUncategorizedJanuary 6, The Big LieNed Foley

Fascinating Washington Post profile of Kenneth Chesebro, a protégé of Larry Tribe’s. One interesting tidbit: “In 2000, when Tribe joined Vice President Al Gore’s legal team dealing with the recount of the presidential vote in Florida, Chesebro offered to… Continue reading

“Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose fires press secretary over tweets criticizing Trump”

August 16, 2023, 5:20 pmUncategorizedprimariesNed Foley

Meet the Press Blog. “LaRose also has been a Trump critic in the past and has voiced concerns about how the former president has raised baseless claims of election fraud to explain his loss in the 2020 election. But… Continue reading

“‘We Have a Right to Put It on the Ballot’: How Organizers Are Defending Direct Democracy”

August 16, 2023, 5:03 pmUncategorizedBallot Initiatives, gerrymandering, majority rule, redistrictingNed Foley

Bolts Magazine. I see this story as relevant to a basic question that I think is going to confront the field of election law (and, more broadly, the law of democratic procedures) over the next decade or so: the… Continue reading

“What the Heck Happened in Coffee County, Georgia?; A detailed look back at the computer intrusion that features prominently in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s election interference indictment”

August 16, 2023, 7:25 amchicanery, election subversion risk, voting technologyRick Hasen

Lawfare deep dive by Anna Bower: Days before the forensics team sets foot in Douglas, which is about 130 miles southwest of Savannah, voters had arrived at the elections office to mark their ballots in the state’s runoff election for… Continue reading

“Fani Willis Takes on Trump; How bluster became a criminal conspiracy to disenfranchise Black voters.”

August 16, 2023, 7:22 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

I spoke with Mary Curtis for the Slate “What Next” podcast. Listen here.

“Lawsuit over Wisconsin absentee ballot witness addresses allowed to proceed”

August 16, 2023, 6:29 amUncategorizedabsentee ballots, election administrationNed Foley

Wisconsin State Journal. “A lawsuit that would let Wisconsin election officials accept absentee ballots with partial witness addresses as long as the correct addresses are discernable can proceed, a Dane County judge has ruled. … “The lawsuit was filed against… Continue reading

“Rulebook for Arizona’s 2024 elections faces criticism from multiple sides”

August 16, 2023, 6:20 amUncategorizedelection administrationNed Foley

Votebeat Arizona. “As Secretary of State Adrian Fontes makes rules for how next year’s elections must be run in Arizona, Republican legislative leaders say he’s overstepping his authority. Voting rights advocates say he isn’t exerting enough authority. “The groups publicized… Continue reading

“Georgia election indictment highlights wider attempts to illegally access voting equipment”

August 16, 2023, 6:14 amUncategorizedelection subversion, insider threats, voting equipment securityNed Foley

AP reports. “’The one thing that Coffee County shows, and these other counties as well, is that the effort behind Jan. 6 didn’t stop on Jan. 6,’ said Lawrence Norden, an election security expert with the Brennan Center for… Continue reading