“Lawsuit takes aim at Va. law stripping felons of voting rights”

June 29, 2023, 6:41 amfelon votingRick Hasen

WaPo: Several advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit Monday alleging a Virginia law that automatically stripped the right to vote from more than 300,000 convicted felons is an illegal vestige of historical efforts to keep Black residents from casting ballots.… Continue reading

Expect Many More Lawsuits in Federal Court Against the Actions of State and Local Election Officials after Moore v. Harper

June 28, 2023, 5:51 pmelection administration, legislation and legislatures, Supreme Court, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

(This is the first in a series of posts I plan to write about the implications of the last part of the majority opinion in Moore v. Harper that creates something of a time bomb for litigation.) Expect many more… Continue reading

Giuliani Asked About Fake Electors Plan by DOJ Prosecutors

June 28, 2023, 5:34 pmchicanery, election subversion riskRick Hasen

NYT: A proffer agreement is an understanding between prosecutors and people who are subjects of criminal investigations that can precede a formal cooperation deal. The subjects agree to provide useful information to the government, sometimes to tell their side of… Continue reading

ELB Podcast 4:10: U.S. Democracy and the Independent State Legislature Theory after Moore v. Harper

June 28, 2023, 5:15 pmELB Podcast, legislation and legislatures, Supreme Court, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

New ELB Podcast (the Season 4 Finale!): What are the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision in Moore v. Harper for American democracy? What will the case mean for 2024 election challenges? Does the decision shut down attempts to submit… Continue reading

“Liberal wins at the Supreme Court may prove to be fleeting”

June 28, 2023, 5:12 pmSupreme CourtRick Hasen

Lawrence Hurley for NBC News: In several recent rulings, the Supreme Court unexpectedly handed wins to liberal advocates on election law, minority voting rights and Native American issues, but all three rulings were not conclusive. That means contentious issues could… Continue reading

“As pressure mounts to fix Pinal’s problems, elections director resigns”

June 28, 2023, 3:43 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Votebeat: Pinal County’s elections director abruptly resigned this week after facing harsh criticism from the county GOP. Her scathing resignation letter led many to compare her departure to those of other elections directors across the country who… Continue reading

“California Supreme Court takes up voting rights challenge against Santa Monica”

June 28, 2023, 2:50 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Courthouse News Service on the oral argument.

“The Geography of Racially Polarized Voting: Calibrating Surveys at the District Level”

June 28, 2023, 12:40 pmUncategorizedRichard Pildes

This looks to be an important new article in the APSR from a strong group of authors. Here’s the abstract: Debates over racial voting, and over policies to combat vote dilution, turn on the extent to which groups’ voting preferences… Continue reading

“The Phantasm of Principle”

June 28, 2023, 9:24 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Wilfred Codrington has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Kentucky Law Journal). Here is the abstract: Together with the decennial Census, the reapportionment and redistricting processes comprise the most integral components for ensuring appropriate representation in the U.S. system of… Continue reading

TODAY! Safeguarding Democracy Project Flash Webinar, Wednesday June 28: U.S. Democracy and the Independent State Legislature Theory after the Supreme Court’s Moore v. Harper Decision [bumped to top]

June 28, 2023, 7:10 amlegislation and legislatures, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Join UCLA Law’s Safeguarding Democracy Project for a free online flash webinar, Wednesday, June 28, 11 am PT/2 pm ET, featuring leading election law scholars: · Derek T. Muller, Notre Dame Law (beginning July 1) · Richard H. Pildes,… Continue reading

“Supreme Court rejects novel legislative theory but leaves a door open for 2024 election challenges”

June 28, 2023, 7:04 amlegislation and legislatures, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Nick Riccardi and David Leib for AP: But for some critics of the theory, the danger is not entirely past. The court found that state courts still must act within “ordinary bounds” when reviewing laws governing federal elections. That… Continue reading

“Exclusive: Rudy Giuliani interviewed in special counsel’s 2020 election interference probe”

June 28, 2023, 6:59 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

CNN: Former Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani has been interviewed by federal investigators as part of the special counsel’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, multiple sources familiar with the meeting told CNN. The meeting between Giuliani,… Continue reading

The limited path for litigation after Moore v. Harper was set out in a series of related cases between 2004 and 2007

June 28, 2023, 6:46 amElections Clause, legislation and legislaturesDerek Muller

ELB readers may recall my post last year on Colorado General Assembly v. Salazar (2004). There, the Court, over three dissenting justices, denied cert in a Legislature Thereof Clause dispute under the Elections Clause in Colorado’s redistricting. A lot of… Continue reading

Pildes: “The Supreme Court Rejected a Dangerous Elections Theory. But It’s Not All Good News.”

June 28, 2023, 6:44 amlegislation and legislatures, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Excellent new Rick Pildes in the NYT: Relief that the court did not endorse this extreme position, though, must be tempered by the fact — which many initial responses to the decision have not recognized — that the court simultaneously… Continue reading

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