“Key GOP Senator Sketches Plan To Boost Funding For Election Officials During COVID”

July 22, 2020, 2:37 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

TPM: Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) on Wednesday spelled out the approach the Senate will likely take in providing additional funding for election officials in the next round of pandemic legislation.“I am very open to having that discussion about additional… Continue reading

Two Upcoming ABA Election Programs

July 22, 2020, 2:32 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Registration link Wednesday, July 29, 2020 10:00 – 11:30 AM | Hacking Democracy: Elections and Beyond Sponsored by: ABA Cybersecurity Legal Task Force, ABA Standing Committee on Law and National SecurityCosponsored by: Division for Public Education Democracy is not inevitable. Right… Continue reading

“Trump lied to the Supreme Court. His new census order proves it.”

July 22, 2020, 2:17 pmcensus litigation, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

New Leah Litman: Beyond that rather glaring defect, however, the new executive order also confirms the theory behind the lawsuits challenging the administration’s earlier attempt to add a citizenship question to the census. When the administration attempted to do that,… Continue reading

“Refusal to concede? Vote counting delays? Lefty groups brace for the worst.”

July 22, 2020, 2:10 pmElection MeltdownRick Hasen

Greg Sargent WaPo column: In a recent interview, President Trump repeatedly refused to say whether he will accept the outcome of the voting this fall, while claiming vote-by-mail will “rig the election.” So it’s easy to imagine various… Continue reading

“Trump’s assault on election integrity forces question: What would happen if he refused to accept a loss?”

July 22, 2020, 2:04 pmchicanery, Election MeltdownRick Hasen

WaPo: President Trump’s relentless efforts to sow doubts about the legitimacy of this year’s election are forcing both parties to reckon with the possibility that he may dispute the result in November if he loses — leading to an unprecedented… Continue reading

“The Race-Blind Future of Voting Rights”

July 22, 2020, 1:17 pmUncategorizedNicholas Stephanopoulos

Jowei Chen and I just posted this article. It’s forthcoming in the Yale Law Journal, and its abstract is below: A critical issue in any racial vote dilution case is the proportionality (or lack thereof) of a minority group’s… Continue reading

“Voting Rights For Georgians In Legal Debt Left Unclear By State Agencies”

July 22, 2020, 12:00 pmfelon votingRick Hasen

Johnny Kauffman for WABE.

In Worrisome Decision, 11th Circuit Panel on 2-1 Vote Rejects Challenge to Alabama Voter Identification Law Without Allowing a Trial

July 22, 2020, 10:51 amelection administration, The Voting Wars, voter id, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

You can find the opinion in Greater Birmingham Industries v. Alabama at this link. This opinion is very troubling because the majority held it was appropriate to grant summary judgment to the state of Alabama despite evidence that at… Continue reading

In Must-Read Piece on Dysfunction at the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, Jessica Huseman Reveals that Excellent Republican Commissioner Matt Masterson Was Forced Out by Von Spakovsky and EAC Commissioner McCormick for Being “Insufficiently Partisan”

July 22, 2020, 9:40 amchicanery, election administration, Election Assistance Commission, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

In my 2012 book, The Voting Wars, I chronicled how Congress created the United States Election Assistance commission in 2002 after the debacle of 2000’s Bush v. Gore, how the agency started out with great promise as one that… Continue reading

“A democracy cannot rely on luck:” Crucial Norm Ornstein Column in The Atlantic: “The November Election Is Going to Be a Mess Disaster is avoidable—if lawmakers act now.”

July 22, 2020, 9:20 amelection administration, Election MeltdownRick Hasen

Among Norm’s excellent suggestions: 1. Print a huge supply of absentee ballots and return envelopes. If state and local election officials can’t afford to do so, they can establish public-private partnerships, using resources from foundations, corporations, and others to get… Continue reading

“Ranked Choice Voting in 2020 Presidential Primary Elections”

July 22, 2020, 9:14 amalternative voting systemsRick Hasen

New Fairvote report: Five state Democratic parties used ranked choice voting (RCV) in presidential primary elections and caucuses in 2020 with great success. Despite a global pandemic, all five states had high rates of success with RCV and, especially in… Continue reading