The Danger of the Trump Pardons is About the Next Attempt at Election Subversion

November 11, 2025, 7:13 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

As I told the AP: While the pardons may have no immediate legal impact, experts warned they send a dangerous message for future elections. “It is a complete abdication of the responsibility of the federal government to ensure we… Continue reading

Utah Court Ruling on Partisan Fairness Metrics

November 11, 2025, 6:28 amUncategorizedNicholas Stephanopoulos

In its decision rejecting the legislature’s new congressional map, the Utah trial court included a lengthy discussion of quantitative measures of partisan fairness in districting. The legislature argued that partisan asymmetry and the mean-median difference should be used to assess… Continue reading

“Trump Pardons Giuliani and Others Involved in Effort to Overturn 2020 Election”

November 10, 2025, 7:33 amauthoritarian threats in US, election subversion riskRick Hasen

NYT: President Trump has granted pardons to his former lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani and a wide array of other people accused of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to the Justice Department’s pardon attorney. The… Continue reading

“Federal Judge, Warning of ‘Existential Threat’ to Democracy, Resigns”

November 10, 2025, 7:28 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

NYT: A federal judge warned of an “existential threat to democracy” in a searing first-person essay published on Sunday, saying he had stepped down from the bench to speak out against President Trump. He accused Mr. Trump of “using… Continue reading

“Utah’s new congressional map could get judicial approval by next week”

November 10, 2025, 7:19 amredistrictingRick Hasen

KSL reports.

Breaking: Supreme Court Agrees to Review Bonkers 5th Circuit Opinion Holding that Federal Law Prohibits the Counting of Timely Mailed Ballots That Arrive after Election Day

November 10, 2025, 7:13 amelection administration, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

The cert grant is here. Here is what I wrote when the 5th Circuit first decided this case: Fifth Circuit in Bonkers Opinion Holds It Violates Federal Law for Miss. to Accept Ballots Postmarked by Election Day But Arriving… Continue reading

NYU Democracy Project: A Populist Democratic Party, Lessons from the Gilded Age, and Electoral Due Process

November 10, 2025, 5:47 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

I’ve been too busy to blog much this past week, either about my own work or the NYU Democracy Project. But here are three essays from last week in the NYU Democracy Project series of 100 essays in 100 days… Continue reading

“How an Adam Schiff indictment could shake the Senate”

November 9, 2025, 11:22 amfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Politico: President Donald Trump’s retribution campaign against his political adversaries could soon hit the Senate — and lawmakers are already bracing for impact. After securing the indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia… Continue reading

“Trump Loyalists Push ‘Grand Conspiracy’ as New Subpoenas Land”

November 9, 2025, 11:20 amfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

NYT: Far-right influencers have been hinting in recent weeks that they have finally found a venue — Miami — and a federal prosecutor — Jason A. Reding Quiñones — to pursue long-promised charges of a “grand conspiracy” against President Trump’s… Continue reading

“Insider: Mike Rogers ties 2024 Senate loss to a ‘van in Detroit with ballots'”

November 9, 2025, 11:15 amfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Sigh: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers has claimed, at events in recent weeks, that a single van carrying ballots in Detroit “swung” his 2024 race against Democrat Elissa Slotkin, according to two videos of remarks reviewed by The Detroit… Continue reading

The Trump-Mandami Era

November 9, 2025, 8:56 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

The WSJ published an article on Friday, based on last week’s elections, rightly titled: Americans See a Government That Can’t Solve Their Problems. Here’s the opening line: “U.S. elections are sending a consistent message: Americans are deeply frustrated with… Continue reading

Republicans Ask for Preliminary Injunction in Prop 50 Case (It May Not All Get Resolved in Time for 2026 Elections)

November 8, 2025, 8:01 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Here’s the motion. More from Michael Li.

“Only 2 DOJ election monitors in Fresno County for Prop 50 vote, despite controversy”

November 8, 2025, 7:56 pmDepartment of JusticeRick Hasen

The Fresno Bee reports.

“Why Democrats Could Win the Redistricting War”

November 7, 2025, 9:41 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Nate Cohn for NYT’s The Tilt: Republicans have had an advantage in this year’s redistricting wars because they control the redistricting process in states with more Democratic-held congressional seats. But this advantage is starting to look shaky — shaky enough… Continue reading