WaPo Podcast: “Trump suggested sending law enforcement to the polls. Can he do that?”

August 27, 2020, 5:09 pmThe Voting WarsRick Hasen

WaPo: In this episode Faith in the U.S. electoral system is one of the most important fundamentals of this country’s democracy.And this year, it’s being tested in unprecedented ways.Some of those challenges are emerging from the rhetoric of the… Continue reading

Georgia: “State Investigation Finds Failures In Fulton County’s Absentee Process”

August 27, 2020, 5:06 pmabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

GPB: A Georgia State Election Board investigation Thursday found that Fulton County’s absentee ballot request process failed in the run-up to the June 9 primary, leaving hundreds of voters without the ballots they requested and contributing to long lines… Continue reading

New Study: Vote by Mail Increases Voter Turnout But Does Not Alter Election Outcomes

August 27, 2020, 2:47 pmabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

The participatory and partisan impacts of mandatory vote-by-mail View ORCID ProfileMichael Barber1,* and View ORCID ProfileJohn B. Holbein2,* See all authors and affiliationsScience Advances 26 Aug 2020:Vol. 6, no. 35, eabc7685DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abc7685 Article Figures … Continue reading

Dirty Tricks Dep’t: Detroit Voters Targeted with Robocalls Containing False Voting Information Intended to Suppress Vote By Mail

August 27, 2020, 2:38 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Detroit News: Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is warning Detroit voters of a “racially charged” and false robocall that appears to be discouraging mail-in voting ahead of the November election. The recording tells voters that their personal information… Continue reading

Weakest Link Axiom of Election Administration: “What we know about Detroit’s absentee ballot processing errors”

August 27, 2020, 10:41 amElection MeltdownRick Hasen

This continues to be a huge concern of mine given what I’ve termed the “weakest link axiom” of election administration: “the accuracy of an electionsystem, and voters’ confidence in the system’s fairness and accuracy during a contest close enough to… Continue reading

“Absentee ballot drop boxes, envelopes big problem for Detroit, advocates say”

August 27, 2020, 10:37 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Detroit Free Press: In November, Detroit voters are expected to cast absentee ballots in droves, but some voting advocates worry that the city hasn’t done enough to get ready for the onslaught.Unlike most jurisdictions in Michigan that have been… Continue reading

Partial Rebound in Summer Voter Registration Numbers After Big Dip

August 27, 2020, 10:31 amvoter registrationRick Hasen

Center for Election Innovation and Research: Seven jurisdictions CEIR was able to review (Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Virginia) each reported lower registration rates for May 2020 than May 2016. Since June of this… Continue reading

“Attitudes on Voting in 2020”

August 27, 2020, 8:57 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

Rand has issued this important and extensive report on public attitudes toward voting this fall. It first “key finding” is that most voters believe voting will be safe this fall — and that older voters are even more likely to… Continue reading

“Despite uncertainty, Democrats bet big on mail voting in Pennsylvania”

August 27, 2020, 8:44 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

McClatchy: Democrats in one of the most pivotal battleground states are pushing past concerns about the efficiency of the Postal Service and making voting by mail a centerpiece of their election mobilization strategy.Despite a president who has continually maligned the… Continue reading

“Black voters are being targeted in disinformation campaigns, echoing the 2016 Russian playbook”

August 27, 2020, 8:41 amcheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo: Four years after Russian operatives used social media in a bid to exacerbate racial divisions in the United States and suppress Black voter turnout, such tactics have spread across a wide range of deceptive online campaigns operated from numerous… Continue reading