Trump, Bondi & Free Speech

September 17, 2025, 4:05 amUncategorizedNed Foley

POLITICO has a story that is mostly about Bondi but what it says about Trump struck me as most significant. It begins with Bondi: “Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday appeared to walk back comments promising to target broadly defined… Continue reading

“Voter Registration is Being Undermined Across America”

September 16, 2025, 12:21 pmUncategorizedNed Foley

Op-ed in Time by Hannah Fried, executive director of All Voting is Local. My month-long fellowship at the University of Melbourne this summer taught me, among many other things, that if voting is compulsory–as it is in Australia–then there… Continue reading

American Encorce v. Fontes

September 16, 2025, 12:13 pmUncategorizedNed Foley

The Ninth Circuit today issued a ruling with two parts: (1) it reversed the district court’s determination that the plaintiffs have standing to challenge the “Canvass Provision” of the Arizona Secretary of State’s Election Manual , which states: “If… Continue reading

“The Voting Wars: Public Opinion About Battles Over Voting Rules”

September 16, 2025, 11:31 amUncategorizedNed Foley

A new paper by Ryan Claassen and Michael Easley with this abstract: The voting wars rank among the most rancorous and active partisan battles in an era defined by extreme partisan animus. The current battle lines formed decades ago, but… Continue reading

Paul Gronke on [in?] “The Voting Booth” podcast

September 16, 2025, 10:26 amUncategorizedNed Foley

Discussing vote-by-mail (not surprisingly, given Paul’s expertise on the topic).

Today: Free Webinar from Safeguarding Democracy Project: “The Risk of Federal Interference in the 2026 Midterm Elections”

September 16, 2025, 7:46 amauthoritarian threats in US, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Tuesday, September 16, 12:15pm-1:15pm PT, Webinar Register here. Ben Haiman, UVA Center for Public Safety and Justice, Liz Howard, NYU Law Brennan Center for Justice, and Stephen Richer, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School Richard L. Hasen, moderator (Director,… Continue reading

“Why a Pennsylvania Court Election This November Could Matter in 2028”

September 16, 2025, 4:58 amUncategorizedNed Foley

Nick Corasaniti in The NY Times on the retention elections for three seats held by Democrats on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court: “What’s at stake is nothing less than control of the highest court in the most important swing state in… Continue reading

Trump’s new defamation suit against NY Times and Penguin Random House

September 16, 2025, 4:45 amUncategorizedNed Foley

It’s not exactly election law news, narrowly defined, but it seems significant enough to worth noting: Trump has filed a Florida state-law defamation complaint against the New York Times, several of its star reporters, and also Penguin Random House and… Continue reading

“Are we heading towards the gerrymander apocalypse with David Wasserman”

September 16, 2025, 3:53 amUncategorizedNed Foley

I’m looking forward to listening to this Odd Years podcast, given David Wasserman’s unsurpassed expertise on congressional redistricting.

“Utah Supreme Court rejects emergency stay in redistricting case, Utah legislature must draw new maps”

September 15, 2025, 5:26 pmUncategorizedNed Foley

ABC4 [Salt Lake City] reports, stating that the state supreme court’s order “means that unless another stay is granted, presumably by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Utah Legislature will need to draw new congressional maps by September 25.” I’m… Continue reading

“Election deniers now hold posts on local US election boards, raising concerns for midterms”

September 15, 2025, 5:09 pmUncategorizedNed Foley

The Guardian reports. I doubt that defying court orders is the best way to combat election denialism. The story discusses Democrats in Georgia who were found in contempt of court for refusing to appoint Republican election commissioners on the ground… Continue reading

Looking Forward to Speaking at University of Oregon Law on Friday Sept. 19: “Keynote Address: The Past and Future of the Voting Rights Act at the U.S. Supreme Court “

September 15, 2025, 4:51 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

I will be at the O’Connell conference. Details here.

“Bracket Voting: Structuring ‘Final Four’ Elections like Familiar Sports Tournaments”

September 15, 2025, 7:09 amUncategorizedNed Foley

I’ve posted this new article on SSRN. Here’s the abstract: This essay, a contribution to the Ohio State Law Journal symposium on the important new book Aligning Election Law by Nicholas Stephanopoulos, addresses the value of the alignment principle for… Continue reading

Essays on Measures to Overcome Social Polarization, from NYU’s Democracy Project

September 15, 2025, 6:21 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

In our first week, we published three additional essays with views on several ways to address the toxic political culture of our era, in addition to Randy Kennedy’s essay excerpted earlier here entitled: NOT By Any Means Necessary. From John … Continue reading