“Wisconsin AG seeks to block Elon Musk’s million-dollar giveaways ahead of state Supreme Court race”

March 28, 2025, 1:18 pmvote buyingRick Hasen

NBC News: Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said Friday he would seek a court order to block tech billionaire and White House adviser Elon Musk from awarding million-dollar prizes to people at a weekend event ahead of next week’s… Continue reading

Elon Musk, Recognizing Likely Illegality of His Offer of Lottery for People Who Voted in Wisconsin State Supreme Court Race, Tweaks Offer to No Longer Require Voting

March 28, 2025, 11:03 amvote buyingRick Hasen

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Billionaire Elon Musk will visit Wisconsin Sunday and hand out $1 million checks to voters just two days before the high-stakes state Supreme Court election. Musk first announced his event in a post on his social media… Continue reading

Elon Musk Appears to Be Breaking Wisconsin Law Against Vote Buying in Offering a Chance to Win $1 Million to Anyone Who Voted in Wisconsin Supreme Court Race

March 28, 2025, 5:40 amchicanery, vote buyingRick Hasen

During the 2024 elections, there was a question whether Elon Musk was breaking federal law in offering various incentives only to registered voters, including what was essentially a lottery open only to registered voters. He’s up to similar gimmicks in… Continue reading

A Tale of Two Law Firms: “Trump Targets WilmerHale, Citing Law Firm’s Connection to Robert Mueller”/”Skadden, a Top Law Firm, Is in Talks to Avert an Executive Order”

March 27, 2025, 7:18 pmauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

NYT: President Trump moved on Thursday to punish the law firm WilmerHale, where Robert S. Mueller III worked before and after he served as special counsel in the Trump-Russia investigation, expanding his widespread campaign of retribution. In an executive… Continue reading

Voting Rights Groups Send Letter to the EAC: “The Commission is Not Authorized to Implement” Trump’s Executive Order on Elections

March 27, 2025, 7:12 pmauthoritarian threats in US, election administrationRick Hasen

From the letter: On behalf of the Brennan Center for Justice, the American Civil Liberties Union, the League of Women Voters of the United States (the “League”), the Legal Defense Fund, and the National Association for the Advancement of… Continue reading

“New report illustrates immense fundraising pressure faced by legislative leaders to boost parties’ political war chests”

March 27, 2025, 11:28 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Issue One: A new Issue One report provides a glimpse into the relentless fundraising pressure faced by legislative leaders in Congress, whom party leaders frequently lean on to raise astonishing amounts of money for the parties’ political war chests under… Continue reading

My New One at Slate: “The Ultrarich Have Reshaped Presidential Elections. Here’s Where They’re Looking Next. Billionaire money could have even more of an impact on these races than it did on the 2024 election.”

March 27, 2025, 6:48 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: Although it has been more than a decade since judicial and administrative rulings freed the ultrawealthy to contribute unlimited sums to outside political groups, 2024 marked a sea change in… Continue reading

Commissioner Weintraub Amicus Brief in DNC v. Trump

March 27, 2025, 6:17 amUncategorizedNicholas Stephanopoulos

HLS’s Election Law Clinic filed this amicus brief yesterday on behalf of FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub (whom President Trump purported to fire without cause last month) in DNC v. Trump, the case challenging the application of Executive Order 14215 to… Continue reading

“Utah Gov. Cox signs away the state’s popular universal vote-by-mail election system”

March 26, 2025, 5:14 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

Salt Lake Tribune: Tucked in the middle of a list of 100 bills Gov. Spencer Cox signed Thursday was “Amendments to Election Law,” or HB300 — the law that is set to end Utah’s popular universal vote-by-mail election system. The… Continue reading

Watch My Appearance on “Meet the Press NOW” with Kristen Welker Talking About Trump’s Election-Related Executive Order

March 26, 2025, 3:33 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Watch here.

Shaw v. Reno and Callais v. Louisiana

March 26, 2025, 3:21 pmUncategorizedRichard Pildes

I’m struck by the similarity of the underlying factual contexts in these two cases. Only one Justice on the current Court, Justice Thomas, was on the Court that decided Shaw, and the similarity is not apparent from the opinion in… Continue reading

My New One at MSNBC Opinion: “Trump’s executive order on elections is a blatant power grab; It seems especially dangerous to take power away from the states when there are many threats to our democracy.”

March 26, 2025, 2:51 pmauthoritarian threats in US, election administration, Election Assistance Commission, fraudulent fraud squad, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

I have written this piece for MSNBC Opinion. It begins: By design, presidents have no power over the conduct of federal elections. President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on election administration aims to flip that, trying to take power… Continue reading

“Trump Is Trying to Gain More Power Over Elections. Is His Effort Legal?”

March 26, 2025, 2:45 pmauthoritarian threats in US, election administration, Election Assistance CommissionRick Hasen

Nick Corasaniti for the NYT: President Trump pushed on Tuesday to hand the executive branch unprecedented influence over how federal elections are run, signing a far-reaching and legally dubious order to change U.S. voting rules. The executive order, which seeks… Continue reading

New Book on “Electoral Geography”

March 26, 2025, 12:03 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Igor Okunev has written this new book (sample on Amazon). Here is the description: Electoral geography is the study of the spatial dimension of the electoral process. It examines the factors and patterns underlying long-standing ideological and political splits… Continue reading

Election Law Blog

The law of politics and the politics of law