Previewing the democratic casualties sure to accompany SCOTUS OT 23

September 29, 2022, 11:21 ampolitical equality, Voting Rights Actfederalism, Independent State Legislature DoctrineTabatha Abu El-Haj

In advance of next week, Politico offers a thorough preview of the two election law cases on the Supreme Court’s docket this term. Both cases, it notes, are appeals from lower court decisions that threw out political maps drawn by… Continue reading

“The Roberts Court Takes Aim at the Voting Rights Act”

September 29, 2022, 11:08 amUncategorizedTabatha Abu El-Haj

Joshua Douglas, University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law, offers a preview of Merrill v. Milligan in the Washington Monthly. “The Court took a cleaver to the Voting Rights Act in its last two significant rulings.… Continue reading

What impact did policy changes, the political environment, and voter outreach have on mail ballot rejection rates in 2020?

September 29, 2022, 10:48 amabsentee ballots2022 Election CycleTabatha Abu El-Haj

In a concise new paper published by Harvard’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Tova Wang and Jose Altamirano analyze trends in mail ballot rejection rates in 2020. Were mail ballots rejected at a higher rate in 2020… Continue reading

“Forget ‘polarization.’ The problem is right-wing extremism.”

September 29, 2022, 7:40 ampolitical parties, political polarizationTabatha Abu El-Haj

Jennifer Rubin makes a key point in this Opinion piece in the Washington Post, arguing that the problem in American politics today is not polarization but “right-wing extremism”: Democrats are not selecting extreme candidates. For example, as of July, in… Continue reading

The long-arm of Texas’ 1876 White Supremacist Constitution–or the things you learn when you are curious

September 28, 2022, 7:17 pmUncategorizedElection Crimes, TexasTabatha Abu El-Haj

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the court of highest resort in Texas for criminal cases, issued an order refusing to reconsider a decision from late last year that held that the “the specific powers given to the Attorney General… Continue reading

“Michigan lawmakers agree on early absentee ballot processing”

September 28, 2022, 6:33 pmabsentee ballotsTabatha Abu El-Haj

AP News reports that legislators in Michigan have reached a deal to permit the pre-processing of absentee ballots in municipalities with populations of at least 10,000, starting two days before the Nov. 8 election. The deal does not change existing… Continue reading

“The 3 Types of Election-Denying Republicans Running for Secretary of State”

September 28, 2022, 11:22 amUncategorizedTabatha Abu El-Haj

In a new opinion piece, Chris Geidner cautions that the risks from 2020 election-deniers running for key election positions extends to those who may be elected in solidly Republican states and those who will loose this November in solidly Democratic… Continue reading

“Activists Flood Election Offices With Challenges”

September 28, 2022, 11:11 amelection subversion risk, voter registration, votingTabatha Abu El-Haj

New article by Nick Corasaniti and Alexandra Berzon at N.Y. Times describes how “false theories about election fraud” underly activists efforts to purge tens of thousands of voters from the rolls in many key battleground states. Groups in Georgia have… Continue reading

Roger Stone on Video Around 2020 Election: “Fuck the voting . . . Let’s get right to the violence. Shoot to kill.”

September 28, 2022, 7:54 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Chilling.

Election Reform Act, Senate Bill as Amended–Updated

September 28, 2022, 5:15 amUncategorizedTabatha Abu El-Haj

For those of you who are curious, here is a link to the amendments to the ‘Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022’ proposed by Senators Klobuchar and Blunt. These amendments were unanimously approved by the Rules… Continue reading

Amending the Electoral Count Act doesn’t concede that Trump was right about Pence’s role on January 6, 2021

September 28, 2022, 4:28 amelectoral collegeDerek Muller

I’ve seen occasional (and perhaps we’ll see them grow increasingly frequent) comments about proposals to amend the Electoral Count Act of 1887 make a similar argument. Amendment proposals (including the Electoral Count Reform Act) will expressly provide that the… Continue reading

What the Independent State Legislature Theory Would Not Do

September 28, 2022, 3:36 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

I’ve written a number of times on what the ISLT would not do, as have Derek Muller, Pam Karlan, and Ned Foley, even if the Court were to adopt the most expansive version of the doctrine. In addition, we have… Continue reading

With or without what kind of parties? And at what cost?

September 27, 2022, 7:04 pmpolitical parties, political polarizationTabatha Abu El-Haj

Today was the 10th Anniversary of the Mischief of Faction Blog, which started from the premise that “on balance, a nation is better off with parties than without them.” Seth Masket and Julie Azari took the opportunity to… Continue reading

Party Leaders Seek to Rein in Extremists through Spending–But Quietly

September 27, 2022, 6:13 ampolitical parties, primaries, UncategorizedTabatha Abu El-Haj

A new Washington Post report suggests that Kevin McCarthy and Liz Cheney, as party leaders, are both working to bringing order back to the Republican Party. It is only their methods and interests that differ. McCarthy’s interests appear to be… Continue reading