“Political Groups Track Protesters’ Cellphone Data”

June 15, 2020, 9:01 amvoter registrationRick Hasen

WSJ: The protests continuing around the country are historic displays of social action. For political operatives, the mass gatherings are also a unique opportunity to harvest data on potential voters.Advocacy and voter-registration groups are gathering a trove of data from… Continue reading

“Covid-19 Changed How We Vote. It Could Also Change Who Votes.”

June 15, 2020, 8:58 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: First the Covid-19 pandemic upended how people vote, forcing a huge shift to mailed-in ballots in primary elections nationwide. Now it is taking aim at who can vote — the millions of people who would ordinarily register or… Continue reading

“Trump supporters burn Michigan absentee ballot applications”

June 14, 2020, 10:31 amabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

AP: People burned letters informing them that they can vote by absentee ballot in future elections during a protest near Grand Rapids.The applications were burned Friday during an event called Operation Incinerator outside the DeltaPlex Arena in Walker. Many… Continue reading

“Trio of lawsuits challenge Minnesota absentee balloting requirements amid COVID-19”

June 13, 2020, 3:02 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

MinnPost reports.

“Activists cite tabulation flaw in mail-in ballots in Georgia”

June 13, 2020, 12:37 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

AP: Faulty software or poorly calibrated vote-tabulation scanners used to count mailed-in ballots in this week’s chaotic Georgia primary may have prevented thousands of votes from being counted, election officials and voting integrity activists say.The issue was identified in… Continue reading

“‘Overwhelming’: Georgia poll worker describes voting chaos”

June 13, 2020, 12:35 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

AP reports.

Now Available: Revised–and More Pessimistic–Version of My Paper, Three Pathologies of American Voting Rights Illuminated by the COVID-19 Pandemic, and How to Treat and Cure Them

June 12, 2020, 4:06 pmelection administration, Election Meltdown, UncategorizedRick Hasen

I have posted this draft on SSRN, which takes into account recent troubling developments in COVID-related voting cases in the Fifth Circuit, Sixth Circuit, and Texas Supreme Court. Here is the revised abstract: The COVID-19 global pandemic, which already has… Continue reading

Bizarre Washington Examiner Article Posits Republican Fear That Democrats Will “Wield Voting Rights Like a Cudgel” After Georgia Primary Election Meltdown

June 12, 2020, 3:47 pmElection Meltdown, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Washington Examiner: Republican insiders in Georgia are warning after a balloting meltdown in Fulton County that Democrats could wield voting rights like a cudgel, galvanizing turnout this fall to defeat President Trump in the traditionally red state.Georgia Republicans blame… Continue reading

Must-Read Nate Persily: “It’s Not Too Late to Save the 2020 Election; Avoiding a debacle for U.S. democracy will require getting as many Americans as possible to vote by mail and ensuring that polling places are safe, convenient and plentiful”

June 12, 2020, 3:43 pmelection administration, Election MeltdownRick Hasen

WSJ Saturday Essay: On Tuesday, citizens in Georgia stood in lines for hours to vote—and some just gave up. The state struggled to handle its primary election, hobbled amid the coronavirus pandemic by a shortage of poll workers and polling… Continue reading

“Free Speech for Whom? And by Whom?”

June 12, 2020, 3:41 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Brendan Fischer and Kedric Payne blog.

“How Electronic Voting in Georgia Resulted in a Disenfranchising Debacle”

June 12, 2020, 3:39 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Sue Halpern in The New Yorker.

“Alaska Supreme Court Says Initiative for a Top-Four System and Campaign Finance Disclosure Does Not Violate the Single-Subject Rule, and Therefore Can be on November 2020 Ballot”

June 12, 2020, 3:36 pmballot access, campaign finance, direct democracyRick Hasen

BAN reports.

D.C. Circuit Rejects Another Challenge to Presidential Debate Committee’s Exclusion of Minor Party Candidates

June 12, 2020, 3:34 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Opinion here.

“Gavin Newsom’s vote-by-mail order blocked after Republicans sue over his emergency powers”

June 12, 2020, 3:31 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

SacBee reports. The order, which lasts only for two weeks pending further hearing, suggests that the governor exceeded legislative powers in ordering that every California voter be sent a ballot. I expect that the CA Legislature will act to… Continue reading