“Mail voting could secure the November election. But can election officials make it happen in time?”

March 21, 2020, 1:38 pmabsentee ballots, election administrationRick Hasen

WaPo: The rapidly escalating coronavirus pandemic has forced election officials to consider a sobering reality: The crisis could run headlong into November’s presidential election, and revamping America’s voting systems before then could be difficult and in some cases impossible.Even as… Continue reading

“Mike Bloomberg transfers his campaign assets to Democratic Party to fight President Trump in swing states”

March 21, 2020, 1:34 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WaPo: Former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg has decided to donate significant components of his shuttered presidential campaign to the Democratic Party, a historic bequest that includes an $18 million cash infusion to organize for the general election in swing… Continue reading

“Amid the coronavirus pandemic, a federal judge has reinstated online voter registration in Wisconsin”

March 21, 2020, 1:24 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: A federal judge reinstated Wisconsin’s online voter registration system late Friday to help people find ways to participate in the April 7 presidential election amid the coronavirus pandemic. Wisconsin stopped allowing people to use the state’s online voter… Continue reading

“Election limbo as coronavirus outbreak upends US primaries”

March 21, 2020, 1:19 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

AP: U.S. elections have been upended by the coronavirus pandemic. At least 13 states have postponed voting and more delays are possible as health officials warn that social distancing and other measures to contain the virus might be in… Continue reading

“Kentucky Republicans quietly tighten voter restrictions as US focuses on Covid-19”

March 21, 2020, 1:03 pmelection administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Sam Levine: As states around the country enacted emergency measures to deal with the outbreak of coronavirus, Kentucky lawmakers quietly tightened and approved a new photo identification requirement that would make it harder to vote.Lawmakers eliminated a “catch-all” provision… Continue reading

Expanded Zuberi Allegations Show Problem of Foreign Influence in US Elections

March 21, 2020, 1:01 pmcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

Mother Jones: Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles this week described a dizzying array of secret foreign lobbying by a major donor to both political parties—a new twist in a case that could reveal whether there were foreign efforts to funnel… Continue reading

“Lessons From the Pandemic Primaries”

March 21, 2020, 12:55 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

Gabrielle Gurley for TAP: At a minimum, holding elections going forward means that states should organize alternative polling locations; replace older poll workers with public-employee or student volunteers; and make sure that plenty of cleaning supplies are readily available well… Continue reading

“Citing coronavirus threat, Texas Democrats sue to expand mail-in voting”

March 20, 2020, 4:40 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

Texas Tribune: Following fruitless negotiations over how to proceed with the upcoming primary runoff elections, Texas Democrats are looking to the courts to push for an expansion of voting by mail in the state.In a lawsuit filed in Travis County … Continue reading

Sue Halpern in New Yorker: “Voting in the Time of the Coronavirus”

March 20, 2020, 3:36 pmabsentee ballots, election administrationRick Hasen

New Yorker: Lately, I’ve been hearing people point out that a Presidential election was held in the midst of the Civil War, which illustrates either the commitment of American voters or the unyielding calendar of our democracy. A pandemic,… Continue reading

“A Pandemic, an Election, and a Census”

March 20, 2020, 3:29 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy at the Brennan Center.

“Reducing One Source of a Potential Election Meltdown”

March 20, 2020, 12:50 pmUncategorizedRichard Pildes

Over at the Lawfare Blog (which is quickly becoming a go-to site for longer than op-ed length pieces on election law and the virus), I’ve posted this essay, which addresses one particular risk of mail-in voting. If Congress or individual… Continue reading

“We Can’t Let Coronavirus Postpone Elections; Even in war, America has kept up its democratic traditions. We can’t stop now.”

March 20, 2020, 10:50 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Jon Meacham NYT opinion.

Frank Wilkinson: “Democrats Must Act Now to Protect the Election”

March 20, 2020, 8:47 amabsentee ballots, election administrationRick Hasen

Important read at Bloomberg View: With little but uncertainty ahead, Congress and the states must mobilize immediately to shift the nation to a largely vote-by-mail system by November. There are two obstacles to that goal — one practical, one political.… Continue reading