Iowa overhauls its recount rules

April 16, 2025, 5:45 amrecountsDerek Muller

As a former Iowa resident who saw the 6-vote margin of decision in Iowa’s Second Congressional District in 2020, I saw that the state’s recount laws could use a face lift. In 2025, the Iowa legislature, after previous fits and… Continue reading

“In Showdowns With the Courts, Trump Is Increasingly Combative”

April 15, 2025, 9:57 amauthoritarian threats in US, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Adam Liptak for the NYT: The Trump administration’s compliance with court orders started with foot-dragging, moved to semantic gymnastics and has now arrived at the cusp of outright defiance. Large swaths of President Trump’s agenda have been tied up in… Continue reading

“Springboard to Article V (or Electoral Democracy and the End of Constitutional Amendment in the Nation and States)”

April 15, 2025, 9:29 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Wilfred Codrington has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Harvard Law and Policy Review). Here is the abstract: Drafted in exceedingly sparing terms and notoriously difficult to amend, the U.S. Constitution is falling short in one of the most important… Continue reading

“Arson Attack on Josh Shapiro Raises Fears About Threats to Politicians”

April 15, 2025, 6:51 amchicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: A charred piano. A singed light fixture dangling by a cord in a fire-scarred room. Plates strewn with ash, not far from a dinner table just cleared from a Passover Seder. The scorched rooms inside the official residence of … Continue reading

Top Recent Downloads in Election Law on SSRN

April 15, 2025, 6:17 ampedagogyRick Hasen

Here: RankPaperDownloads1.Reform for Realists: The False Promise of Condorcet Voting G. Michael Parsons and Rachel HutchinsonParsons Law PLLC and FairVoteDate Posted: 21 Feb 2025Last Revised: 09 Mar 20252502.Participation Versus Effective Government Richard H. Pildes and Samuel Issacharoff… Continue reading

“The Judge Ruling on the North Carolina Election Fight Should Heed Bush v. Gore”

April 14, 2025, 10:16 amBush v. Gore reflections, election subversion riskRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: In a preliminary order issued over the weekend likely designed to split the baby, a federal district court in North Carolina has told North Carolina election officials that they should follow… Continue reading

New lawsuit filed over North Carolina supreme court race

April 14, 2025, 8:38 amUncategorizedNicholas Stephanopoulos

Military and overseas voters whose votes are set to be thrown out in the long-running dispute over North Carolina’s 2024 state supreme court race have filed a new lawsuit alleging a series of constitutional violations. Harvard Law School’s Election Law… Continue reading

Watch Archived Video of Safeguarding Democracy Program on Partisan Primaries, Polarization and the Risk of Extremism (with Azari, Foley, Masket, and Pildes)

April 14, 2025, 7:20 amalternative voting systems, political parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

Very enlightening conversation. Watch:

“Trump’s order seeks to force states to buy costly new voting machines”

April 14, 2025, 6:57 amauthoritarian threats in US, voting technologyRick Hasen

WaPo: President Donald Trump’s plan to overhaul elections could hurl 2026 into turmoil by forcing states to hand-count ballots or scramble to spend millions of dollars on voting systems that aren’t yet on the market, according to election officials and… Continue reading

“Gov. Shapiro and Family Evacuated After Arson at Pennsylvania Residence”

April 13, 2025, 2:03 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and his family were forced to flee from their residence early Sunday during an arson attack on the mansion in Harrisburg that significantly damaged a section of the building, the governor and state authorities… Continue reading

Federal Court Temporarily Blocks Certification of North Carolina Supreme Court Race as It Allows State-Court-Ordered Review of Overseas Ballots to Continue

April 13, 2025, 7:47 amjudicial electionsRick Hasen

Here’s the order issued Saturday: This matter comes before the court on Intervenor-Defendant Allison Riggs’ emergency motion for injunction and motion for status conference [DE 37]. Pursuant to the court’s authority under the All Writs Act, the motion is GRANTED… Continue reading

Read Justice Riggs’ Federal Court Motion for a Preliminary Injunction to Stop State Supreme Court Order That May Unconstitutionally Overturn Results of State Supreme Court Election

April 12, 2025, 8:51 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

You can read the filing raising due process and equal protection issues at this link. Here is my earlier coverage.

In a 4-2 Opinion that Will Disenfranchise Military and Other Voters and Likely Overturn the Results of a Valid Election in Violation of Due Process, North Carolina Supreme Court Allows Griffin Election Contest to Go Forward, in Part

April 11, 2025, 2:58 pmchicanery, election subversion risk, judicial elections, recountsRick Hasen

WRAL: Republican Judge Jefferson Griffin has won, in part, his effort to throw out thousands of voters’ ballots from the 2024 elections. On Friday the North Carolina Supreme Court rejected some of Griffin’s challenges but kept others alive, paving the… Continue reading

“Justice Kavanaugh Stays District Court Order in Ohio Ballot Initiative Dispute”

April 11, 2025, 12:18 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Jonathan Adler: On Wednesday evening, in Yost v. Brown, Justice Brett Kavanaugh entered a stay of a district court order in requiring Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to publish two contest ballot initiative summaries. Justice Kavanaugh also called for a response… Continue reading