NYT On the Decline of Competitive Congressional Districts

January 26, 2025, 3:36 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

The NYT has a long story by @miwine and @NYTnickc about the decline of competitive districts in the 2024 elections. A key point from an experienced member of Congress comes at the end of the story: “As competitive districts dwindle,… Continue reading

Trump Campaign Complaint About Harris Using Biden-Harris Campaign Funds Is Unlikely to Get Anywhere at the FEC or In Court, and If It Does It Will Likely Take Years

July 23, 2024, 4:12 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

The New York Times reports that the Trump campaign has filed a complaint at the FEC against Kamala Harris for using the Biden-Harris campaign funds for her own campaign following Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 race. Most campaign finance lawyers… Continue reading

“With a Democrat’s Help, the F.E.C. Goes From Deadlock to Deregulation”

June 11, 2024, 7:37 amcampaign finance, federal election commission, political polarizationJustin Levitt

There’s a lot to drive discussion in this NYT piece on the FEC and Commissioner Lindenbaum’s role in a recent series of votes. (Disclosure: I was serving at the White House when Commissioner Lindenbaum was nominated.) I haven’t had the… Continue reading

“Trump Ballot Ban Puts Onus on Supreme Court to Avert Tumult”

February 5, 2024, 6:39 pmSupreme CourtRick Hasen

Greg Stohr for Bloomberg: A historic showdown over Donald Trump’s eligibility to reclaim the White House puts pressure on the US Supreme Court to provide a clear political road map as the nation braces for the prospect of a tumultuous… Continue reading

“The Mystery of How Tim Scott’s Campaign Is Spending Its Millions”

July 28, 2023, 12:51 pmcampaign financeDan Tokaji

NYT: [Sen.] Scott entered the 2024 race with a war chest of $22 million, and his campaign raised $5.8 million from April through June. In that same time, he laid out about $6.6 million, a significant clip — but… Continue reading

“‘Dark money in politics an even darker place’ now, judges warn”

December 14, 2022, 7:11 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

WaPo: The partisan split makes the FEC “an unusual agency,” said Commissioner Ellen Weintraub, a Democratic appointee. “Everyone anticipated from the get-go that that was going to make enforcement challenging, and they built in this fail-safe provision that complainants could… Continue reading

Supreme Court declines to hear Pennsylvania Redistricting Case raising ISL theory

October 3, 2022, 11:42 amredistricting, Supreme Court, UncategorizedFranita Tolson

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear Costello v. Carter, which involved a challenge to Pennsylvania’s court approved congressional map. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court adopted the map after a deadlock between the Republican legislature and the Democratic governor. Notably,… Continue reading

What, exactly, would a judicially-manageable standard under the Elections Clause look like after Moore v. Harper?

September 23, 2022, 9:39 amElections ClauseDerek Muller

Rick Pildes here at ELB has already commented on the petitioners’ brief in Moore v. Harper, the Legislature Thereof Clause, as a brief that “trades off between” a “strong” interpretation and a “weak” interpretation of the Clause–strong, in… Continue reading

“The Republicans Who Want Election Laws to ‘Stay Broken’”

August 2, 2022, 7:24 amfederal election commissionRick Hasen

Daily Beast: For years, critics have argued the Federal Election Commission has been effectively broken. Now MAGA-land is going to court to make sure it stays that way.The FEC is charged with civil enforcement of campaign finance laws, but in… Continue reading

Can Congress adjudicate disputes on the validity of electoral votes?

March 10, 2022, 6:41 amelectoral collegeDerek Muller

Former federal judge J. Michael Luttig writes in a recent New York Times op-ed, “Nothing in the Constitution empowers Congress to decide the validity of the electoral slates submitted by the states.” Earlier, he’d written in a Wall Street Journal… Continue reading

Must-read Larry Diamond NYT Oped: “Democrats, Want to Defend Democracy? Embrace What Is Possible.”

January 25, 2022, 8:24 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT oped: Like many scholars of democracy, I have strongly supported both the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. Both are necessary (though not sufficient) to secure the most precious rights in any democracy… Continue reading

“GOP senator says Trump’s election allegations are unfounded”

January 9, 2022, 3:03 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Amazing that this is news a year after the election, but it is: Sen. Mike Rounds on Sunday made it clear that he didn’t subscribe to Trump’s conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being stolen from him.“As a part of… Continue reading

“U.S. Senate Democrats return to voting rights with eye on filibuster”

November 3, 2021, 6:58 amVoting Rights Act, VRAARick Hasen

Reuters: U.S. Senate Democrats will try to advance voting rights legislation in the face of overwhelming Republican opposition for a fourth time on Wednesday, amid pressure to break the deadlock by altering a key Senate rule as early as this… Continue reading

“Democrats’ Improbable New F.E.C. Strategy: More Deadlock Than Ever”

June 8, 2021, 7:00 amfederal election commissionRick Hasen

NYT: For more than a decade, Democrats seeking more robust enforcement of election laws and transparency measures have been routinely routed at the F.E.C., the nation’s top campaign watchdog agency. They have complained bitterly that Republicans have weaponized the commission’s… Continue reading