My Statement: Thoughts on the Despicable Assassination (and Attempted Assassination) of Minnesota Legislators, the Rise in Political Violence in the United States, and the Threats to Free and Fair Elections

June 14, 2025, 12:18 pmauthoritarian threats in US, chicaneryRick Hasen

Violence directed at innocent people is abhorrent and political violence even more so because it is an attack not just on people but on the institution of democracy itself and an attempt to change government not through elections but through… Continue reading

ES&S Responds to NYDN Editorial Against Its Voting Machine

June 13, 2025, 9:22 amvoting technologyRick Hasen

In response to the New York Daily News editorial that I linked to, ES&S sends along this reply: Paper ballots? Yes! By Tierra Williams, ES&S Regional Manager, New York It’s true: good old paper remains the best way to run… Continue reading

“The Standard of Proof in Racial-Gerrymandering Cases: Alexander’s Mistake and its Implications”

June 11, 2025, 2:48 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Michael Pardo has posted this fascinating paper (forthcoming, University of Illinois L. Rev) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, the United States Supreme Court reversed a district court ruling that… Continue reading

“Justice Dept. to Take Narrow Approach to Prosecuting Corporate Bribery Abroad”

June 11, 2025, 7:21 ambriberyRick Hasen

NYT: The Justice Department has closed about half of its open investigations into bribery by U.S. businesses overseas, but plans to initiate prosecutions to more narrowly focus on misconduct that hurts the country’s capacity to compete with foreign companies, officials… Continue reading

“Real paper ballots are a must: N.Y. needs to get rid of touchscreen voting machines”

June 10, 2025, 10:31 amvoting technologyRick Hasen

NYDN editorial: This afternoon a state appellate panel in Albany is hearing a case to reinstate a good government group lawsuit against the state Board of Elections for wrongly allowing new voting machines that dispense with the indispensable needed for… Continue reading

Brahin, “Redistricting and the Origins of the Good Faith Presumption”

June 7, 2025, 9:02 amredistrictingDerek Muller

I’ll post some academic pieces over the weekend. First up, Leonard C. Brahin in the Barry Law Review: Evidentiary and substantive presumptions are a well-established tool that courts employ when addressing a variety of legal problems. These presumptions streamline… Continue reading

“Trump’s Pardon Attorney Mulls Clemency for Fake Electors—Dead or Alive”

June 4, 2025, 8:28 amDepartment of Justice, electoral collegeDerek Muller

Mother Jones

The Court Rightly Granted Cert. in the Illinois Election Case

June 3, 2025, 10:47 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections raises important questions about who, if anyone, has standing to bring federal challenges to certain types of election laws in advance of an election. These are laws that expand opportunities to vote but… Continue reading

“An Initial Assessment of Proportional Ranked-Choice Voting in Portland, Oregon”

June 2, 2025, 1:21 pmalternative voting systemsDerek Muller

New report from AEI by Kevin Kosar, Jaehun Lee, and Jack Santucci: Our core findings are as follows: Voter Choices. There were more candidates overall in 2024 than in past elections, although each voter could choose only among the candidates… Continue reading

Social media and democracy

June 2, 2025, 3:59 amFirst Amendment theoryDerek Muller

Some reflections from Senator Todd Young over at Politico: As I talk about this topic with regular citizens — that is, those who don’t own major social media companies or work at Washington, D.C., think tanks — there is… Continue reading

Good night, and good luck

June 1, 2025, 4:45 pmelection law bizJustin Levitt

As always, when Rick loans the blog for a bit, I’m inevitably surprised by how much work it can entail, and humbled by the fact that he’s at the helm day in and day out. So I’ll close my guest… Continue reading

“Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare Speaks on Redistricting Effort, Partisanship Claims”

May 31, 2025, 11:09 amelection law and constitutional law, political parties, redistrictinglocal redistricting, partisan gerrymanderJustin Levitt

A coming vote on new mid-decade maps for Tarrant County, Texas (where Ft. Worth is the county seat) has been quite controversial, with charges of racial and partisan impropriety, and likely litigation on the horizon. County Judge Tim O’Hare has… Continue reading

The Timing of Multiple-Round Elections

May 30, 2025, 11:04 amalternative voting systems, election administration, primariesinstant runoff votingJustin Levitt

In his most recent Substack, Rob Richie offers some (exceedingly respectful) pushback on my post here about this New Bedford decision to hold a primary on October 7 before a general election November 4. He makes “the case for… Continue reading

Plaintiffs seek en banc review of decision saying private parties can’t enforce the VRA

May 28, 2025, 5:35 pmstatutory interpretation, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

Two weeks ago, Rick covered the latest Eighth Circuit disaster, finding that only the DOJ, and not private plaintiffs, had any ability to enforce the Voting Rights Act. (An earlier Eighth Circuit case held that private plaintiffs couldn’t sue… Continue reading