“How A Rural California County Became A Petri Dish For the Big Lie”

April 14, 2023, 7:05 amelection administration, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Kaila Philo for TPM: A deep red enclave in rural Northern California has recently seen the balance of its local governing body shift to the far right. Now it’s about to embark on an experiment tried in few other jurisdictions… Continue reading

“The Court Is Likely to Reject the Independent State Legislature Theory; And that offers hope for American democracy”

April 14, 2023, 7:01 amlegislation and legislatures, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Judge Luttig in The Atlantic.

“Denver jury convicts man of felony charge for threatening Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold”

April 13, 2023, 3:16 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

The Colorado Sun reports.

“Feinstein, Under Pressure to Resign, Asks to Step Down From Judiciary Panel”

April 12, 2023, 7:20 pmlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

NYT: Senator Dianne Feinstein on Wednesday pushed back on calls for her resignation but asked to step away from the Judiciary Committee indefinitely while recovering from shingles, responding to mounting pressure from Democrats who have publicly vented concerns that she… Continue reading

“Arizona Rep. Liz Harris expelled from House of Representatives for ‘disorderly behavior'”

April 12, 2023, 7:16 pmfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Arizona Republic: The Arizona House of Representatives voted to expel Rep. Liz Harris, R-Chandler after an ethics probe that found Harris engaged in “disorderly behavior” for bringing a guest to a public hearing who falsely accused lawmakers of taking bribes… Continue reading

“Special counsel focuses on Trump fundraising off false election claims”

April 12, 2023, 7:12 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: Federal prosecutors probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol have in recent weeks sought a wide range of documents related to fundraising after the 2020 election, looking to determine if former president Donald Trump or… Continue reading

“Trump Says He Won’t Drop Presidential Bid if Criminally Convicted”

April 12, 2023, 7:58 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: Former President Donald J. Trump said Tuesday that he would continue campaigning for the White House even if convicted of a crime. In his first national media interview since pleading not guilty last week to 34 felony charges related… Continue reading

“NEWS: DNC cuts ties with Dem super lawyer Elias”

April 12, 2023, 7:29 amelection law bizRick Hasen

Punchbowl: The Democratic National Committee is parting ways with Democratic super lawyer Marc Elias, multiple sources told us Tuesday. The DNC and Elias had a number of strategic disagreements, according to sources familiar with the internal deliberations. Elias has represented the DNC since 2009.… Continue reading

“The Republican Strategists Who Have Carefully Planned All of This”

April 12, 2023, 7:26 ampolitical polarizationRick Hasen

Tom Edsall NYT column: Republican leaders are now adopting increasingly autocratic measures, using the police powers of government to impose moralized regulations, turning private citizens into enforcement officers and expelling defiant elected Democrats just as county Republican parties, particularly in… Continue reading

“These state officials praised ERIC for years before suddenly pulling out of the program”

April 11, 2023, 5:57 pmchicanery, election administration, voter registrationRick Hasen

Jessica Huseman for Votebeat: When newly elected Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis kicked off a series of election security reforms in 2019, he said, “protecting the integrity of Florida’s elections” was one of his “top priorities.” In addition to giving $2… Continue reading

AALS Conference on Defending Democracy

April 11, 2023, 1:55 pmelection subversion risk, pedagogy, votingJustin Levitt

The Association of American Law Schools has announced a virtual Conference on Defending Democracy, May 4 from 11am-4pm ET: The Conference will consist of three panels focusing on the following topics: 1) the State of the Union three years… Continue reading

ELB Podcast Episode 4:7: Sarah Longwell: Election Denialism and the Future of the Republican Party

April 11, 2023, 1:32 pmELB Podcast, election subversion riskRick Hasen

New ELB Podcast: How do Republican voters think about Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen 2020 election? What are voters’ attitudes towards authoritarianism and the rule of law? How will election denialism play out in the 2024 Republican presidential… Continue reading

Some lessons from the Maricopa printer report

April 11, 2023, 1:26 pmelection administration, election subversion riskJustin Levitt

To me, there were four truly remarkable features of the Maricopa report Rick blogged here. First is how thorough, matter-of-fact, and by-the-books the report seems to be. The overwhelming feel from the report is that It’s not a crazy-train… Continue reading

My New One at Slate with Dahlia Lithwick: “The Effort to Suppress the Vote Is Spreading to the Republican Mainstream”

April 11, 2023, 7:26 amfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

I have written this piece with Dahlia Lithwick for Slate. It begins: It’s bad enough when a trio of voter suppression groups led by charlatans gets together at an annual secret conference sponsored in part by a group created by … Continue reading