Something Weird is Going on with the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Announcement of Receipt of Fraudulent Voter Registration Applications

October 30, 2024, 9:47 amchicaneryRick Hasen

This editorial suggests one theory of why officials announced the investigation now, but refused to say which group submitted the faulty registrations. But I wonder if that information is being kept under wraps because it was Republican-affiliated groups that engaged… Continue reading

“In Election’s Final Days, Dark Money and ‘Gray Money’ Fund ‘Dirty Tricks'”

October 30, 2024, 7:55 amcampaign finance, campaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: The campaign literature that landed in Republican mailboxes in North Carolina this week was jarring. On one side was a sonogram image of a human fetus, with this message: “Her heart is beating. We all know it. Only the… Continue reading

NYT Goes Deep with Marc Elias Profile

October 30, 2024, 7:51 amelection law bizRick Hasen

NYT: In January, the law firm of the powerful Democratic lawyer Marc Elias launched a gambit intended to help his party. The Elias Law Group petitioned the Federal Election Commission to allow a George Soros-funded political action committee to coordinate… Continue reading

“Trump campaign announces lawsuit against Bucks County over long lines and early cut-offs for voters casting mail ballots”

October 30, 2024, 7:49 amelection administrationDerek Muller

One more story to watch in Pennsylvania, from the Philadelphia Inquirer (UPDATE: the court extended the deadline by one day, per the story here): Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is planning to file a lawsuit against Bucks County over… Continue reading

Colorado, Man (Colorado Secretary of State posted spreadsheet with voting system passwords)

October 30, 2024, 7:42 amelection administrationRick Hasen

9News: The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office inadvertently posted a spreadsheet to its website with a hidden tab that included voting system passwords. In a statement to 9NEWS, a spokesperson for the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said that… Continue reading

Breaking: Injected New Uncertainty into Pennsylvania’s Voting Rules, Intermediate Appeals Court Rules over Dissents that Failing to Count Undated or Misdated But Timely Mail-in Ballots Violates the PA Constitution: What Happens Next?

October 30, 2024, 7:37 amabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

You can find the opinions and dissents at this link. This specific question comes up in the context of a special election, now over, in Pennsylvania, but it’s the same issue that the PA Supreme Court recently declined to opine… Continue reading

Breaking: Supreme Court, on (Apparent) Party Line Vote, Allows Virginia Purge of 1,600 Voters Identified as Possible Non-Citizens (But We Know Some are Erroneously on This List)

October 30, 2024, 7:05 amSupreme CourtRick Hasen

Here is the order: All the Republican-appointed Justices voted to allow the purge and all the Democratic-appointed Justices dissented. The argument was that this last minute purge violated the National Voter Registration Act’s ban on systematic cleaning of voting rolls… Continue reading

The Bush v. Gore-Like Equal Protection Issue Lurking in the Pennsylvania Cases

October 30, 2024, 6:54 amSupreme CourtRick Hasen

Yesterday I linked to a week-old story about how the chances of being alerted of a problem with your mail ballot and being able to cure it depended on where you live. It raises questions of unequal treatment of voters… Continue reading

Some risks about overstating risks this election

October 30, 2024, 6:50 amelectoral collegeDerek Muller

In the midst of so many disaster scenarios and worries ahead of this election, it’s worth noting that the more that risks are overstated, the more legitimate those risks appear. It’s been disappointing to see many stories (too many to… Continue reading

“Who will be the next president? News outlets are running out of ways to communicate the uncertainty”

October 30, 2024, 6:49 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Brian Stelter for CNN: “I’ve used just about every adjective for ‘close,’ and ‘even,’ but that’s the message every time,” Anthony Salvanto, the CBS News executive director of elections and surveys, told CNN. Election-related fears and anxieties are especially high this year, but the… Continue reading

Florida, Man (Ballots Fell Out of a Truck in Miami and a Postal Worker Threw Out Mail including a Ballot in Orlando)

October 30, 2024, 6:47 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Miami Herald: Containers with Miami-Dade ballots were found on the side of a road overnight after they fell out of a county truck, the Elections Department confirmed Tuesday. “The worker forgot to lock the back of the truck and as… Continue reading

“There Is No ‘Little Secret’ Speaker Power over the Electoral Count”

October 29, 2024, 4:28 pmelection subversion risk, electoral collegeRick Hasen

Andy Craig at Cato at Liberty: The Speaker’s role during the electoral count is, in fact, nearly non-existent. There are no lawful mechanisms for the Speaker to derail the joint session of Congress without the backing of concurrent majorities in… Continue reading

“These Pennsylvania counties give voters a chance to fix errors on their mail ballots (MAP)”

October 29, 2024, 3:18 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

I had missed this Votebeat/Spotlight PA story last week, but it seems to me it could be significant if it all comes down to PA: Voters in most Pennsylvania counties will have the chance to fix errors with their mail… Continue reading

“Supreme Court rejects RFK Jr. plea to be removed from ballot in two swing states”

October 29, 2024, 2:34 pmballot access, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

NBC News: The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a long-shot bid by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who ended his independent presidential campaign, seeking his removal from the ballot in the key swing states of Wisconsin and Michigan. Kennedy has… Continue reading

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