“Voting Rights Just Got a Second Surprise Win in Alabama”
Bolts story on the failure of a bill in the state legislature to criminalize assistance with absentee voting, noting that the bill could be reconsidered in the legislature next year.
“John Roberts Just Told Congress How to Fix Bad Supreme Court Decisions”
David Gans in Slate on Allen v. Milligan as a template for the exercise of Congress’s power to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment more broadly that the Court construes it. I detect some tension between this piece and Rick Hasen’s one … Continue reading
“Trump vows to appoint special prosecutor to ‘go after’ Biden if former president wins in 2024”
The Hill reports on Trump’s latest promise of revenge. Like so many previous examples of not-surprising-but-still-shocking breaches of important norms, this crosses yet another line of impropriety dangerous to democracy. What will it take to bring the United States back… Continue reading
My New One at Slate: “There Are Still Two Major Legal Threats to the Voting Rights Act”
I have written this piece for Slate. It begins:
Last week’s voting rights decision in Allen v. Milligan was surprisingly good news: rather than hobble or destroy the existing protections for minority voters to elect their candidates of choice… Continue reading
“Why the Supreme Court Declined an Opportunity to Diminish the Voting Rights Act”
Isaac Chotiner of the New Yorker did this Q&A about Milligan with Ruth Greenwood:
So, yes, I am completely shocked. There is no version of what happened today that I had predicted. We had fifteen different possible outcomes about how… Continue reading
“‘It’s like mob rule here’: Ravalli County panelists claim 2020 election fraud”
Electionline picked up this disturbing story about election denialism in Montana. We’ve all read a lot of similar stories over the last few years, but this one is current and particularly striking in the details of the town meeting where… Continue reading
The constitutional analysis in Allen v. Milligan
One argument raised by Alabama in its brief in Allen v. Milligan was that Section 2 is unconstitutional–at least, unconstitutional if Gingles were interpreted the way the trial court interpreted it. That prompted the bulk of concerned reaction in a… Continue reading
Justin Levitt remains “in the fetal position” after Allen v. Milligan
That’s a quote from his extensive interview with Bolts regarding the decision and its implications. Justin amplified the point behind his vivid metaphor: “There’s absolutely no question that the VRA remains one of the crown jewels of the civil rights… Continue reading
“Early voting expansion to mail-in ballots will head to Hochul’s desk”
Spectrum News reports on the party-line vote in the state legislature that will adopt no excuse absentee voting in New York even though the state’s voters rejected an amendment to the state’s constitution that would do the same. The report… Continue reading
“Alabama case bucks what was a steady path for Roberts court on voting”
Robert Barnes and Ann Marimow of the Washington Post have a comprehensive analysis of prior election law decisions from the Roberts Court and their comparison to Allen v. Milligan.
“Georgia GOP elects election deniers to key posts”
Greg Bluestein and Mark Niesse of the Atlantic Journal-Constitution report. Amy Gardner has a related report in the Washington Post. As these are party not government officials, it is unclear what implications if any these election denialists will have… Continue reading
“This blue-state election compact could create a constitutional crisis”
Jason Willick in the Washington Post arguing that the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact could lead to chaos in the joint session of Congress for counting electoral votes. I’m no fan of the compact (although I favor a constitutional amendment… Continue reading
Did Justice Thomas lose the majority in Allen v. Milligan?
Let me offer something that may (?) be a bit (!) speculative (and which Jonathan Adler already hinted at elsewhere).
To start, I can’t help but look back at some of the statements made during oral argument about how… Continue reading
“The Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act ruling is no victory for democracy”
Melissa Murray and Steve Vladeck in WaPo:
The Supreme Court’s unexpected decision on Thursday to keep Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act intact was greeted with relief — even giddiness — among many in the media. Some even… Continue reading