“Top Pa. GOP lawmaker says hearings will begin this week to start ‘forensic investigation’ of 2020 election”

August 24, 2021, 6:57 pmfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Philly Inquirer: Almost 10 months after the presidential election, the Pennsylvania Senate will open hearings this week as it launches a “forensic investigation,” the top Republican senator said Monday.Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R., Centre) said lawmakers will seek… Continue reading

“All-mail voting in Colorado increases turnout and reduces turnout inequality”

August 15, 2021, 8:45 amabsentee ballotsDerek Muller

New article from Adam Bonica, Jacob M. Grumbach, Charlotte Hill, & Hakeem Jefferson in Electoral Studies: The COVID-19 crisis has generated interest in all-mail voting (AMV) as a potential policy solution for avoiding in-person elections. However, the quality of… Continue reading

ELB Book Corner: Kurt Lash (Post 2 of 3): Documenting the Second Founding: The Road From the Founding to the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments

August 10, 2021, 7:00 amELB Book CornerRick Hasen

I’m delighted to welcome my friend and former colleague Kurt Lash to the ELB Book Corner, for the second of three guest posts on his exceedingly important collection, The Reconstruction Amendments: Essential Documents. Here’s Kurt: The adoption of the… Continue reading

Gerrymandering the Presidency Without a Coup

August 5, 2021, 9:47 pmelection subversion risk, electoral college, political parties, political polarizationNed Foley

As much as I’m concerned about the risk that on January 6, 2025 there will a successful subversion of the popular vote caused by an abuse of the procedures set forth in the Electoral Count Act, I’m concerned about other… Continue reading

“Trump Is Planning a Much More Respectable Coup Next Time”

August 5, 2021, 9:49 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: In recent weeks, we’ve gotten an even greater glimpse into Donald Trump’s efforts to discredit and overturn the results of the 2020 election. From the clownish ongoing audit in Arizona to… Continue reading

Trump on tape about Jefferson & 1800 election

July 22, 2021, 8:39 amelection subversion risk, electoral collegeJanuary 6, The Big Lie, The Electoral Count ActNed Foley

It’s fascinating to hear Trump talk about the historical example that Bruce Ackerman and David Fontana wrote about in their article, Thomas Jefferson Counts Himself into the Presidency. One could rehash how that precedent should be characterized (a point… Continue reading

Breaking: Luzerne County, PA Files Motion in Supreme Court for Justice Barrett to Recuse from Deciding Case

October 27, 2020, 8:08 amSupreme CourtRick Hasen

Here: Against this backdrop, and in the aftermath of Justice Barrett’s nomination, a public poll reflected significant concern with her presiding over matters related to the presidential election. The poll, conducted by research firm SSRS on behalf of CNN, asked… Continue reading

Breaking: Supreme Court in Unsigned Order on 5-3 Vote Reinstates Alabama Ban on Curbside Voting; Justice Sotomayor Writes Dissent for Three Liberal Justices; What It Means

October 21, 2020, 6:15 pmSupreme CourtRick Hasen

You can find the order and dissent here. I am not at all surprised by this ruling, even though I agree 100% with Justice Sotomayor’s disssent. If you look at the two main statements of the Court in these… Continue reading

Anyone Thinking About Partisan Gerrymandering These Days?

October 15, 2020, 2:12 pmUncategorizedRichard Pildes

If not, you will be soon enough. To get you in the spirit, Prof. Derek Muller and I will be debating partisan gerrymandering later tonight for the University of Utah’s 37th Annual Jefferson B. Fordham Debate, with link for… Continue reading

“‘It’s egregious’: thousands of mail-in ballots could be rejected over small errors”

July 8, 2020, 8:04 amabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

The Guardian: As more Americans vote by mail this year amid the Covid-19 pandemic, there’s concern that thousands of eligible voters like Weisfeld could have their ballots rejected for small errors without a chance to fix them. Mail-in ballots… Continue reading

“Federal Court Rules in Favor of Alabama Voters during COVID-19 Pandemic”

June 15, 2020, 8:33 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Release: Today, in a decision that will protect the health and right to vote of medically vulnerable Alabamians, a federal court waived onerous absentee ballot requirements in at least Jefferson, Mobile, and Lee Counties – including the requirement that… Continue reading

The list of COVID-19 election cases

June 11, 2020, 5:34 pmelection administration, Election Meltdown, The Voting Wars, votingJustin Levitt

Updated as of December 23: the post below lists 335 cases in 45 states, DC, and Puerto Rico. AND ANOTHER UPDATE: I’ve joined forces in this enterprise with the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project, and a team led by Zahavah… Continue reading

“James Madison, Citizens United, and the Constitutional Problem of Corruption”

May 6, 2020, 4:08 pmcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Tony Gaughan has posted this draft on SSRN (American U. L. Rev.). Here is the abstract: One of the most controversial decisions in the modern history of the Supreme Court is Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. In a 5-4… Continue reading

“We Should Never Have to Vote in Person Again; Our new paper shows vote-by-mail dramatically boosted Colorado’s turnout. It could change this fall’s election and every election after.”

May 4, 2020, 9:54 amabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

Charlotte Hill, Jacob Grumbach, Adam Bonica and Hakeem Jefferson have written this NYT oped: The idea of “all-mail voting” is straightforward: Every registered voter gets sent a ballot via mail to their home address, then after making their choices,… Continue reading