At a moment when many Americans are deeply distressed about the state of our democracy, I see hope.  

Even as… Continue reading

The post Heather Gerken: “Why the Ford Foundation Has Committed $60M in New Funding to Protect Elections” appeared first on Election Law Blog.

The “revolving door” – that is, the movement of policy-makers from the private sector into government and back out again – is a longstanding issue of concern in… Continue reading

The post “Revolving In” appeared first on Election Law Blog.

A national effort to circumvent the Electoral College has gained another state.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bill Monday that adds the state to the National Popular Vote Compact, an agreement among states to award their presidential electoral… Continue reading

The post “Virginia joins a national effort to ensure only popular vote winners become president” appeared first on Election Law Blog.

The post Honored to Share That I have Been Named a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow, for Work on My Book, Unbent Arc: The Rise and Decline of American Democracy 1964-2024 appeared first on Election Law Blog.

An attorney for the Republican Party of Wisconsin told local officials ahead of a key vote last week that Madison should not count 23 absentee ballots from last week’s Supreme Court election that arrived at polling places after… Continue reading

The post “Wisconsin GOP advised officials not to count late-arriving ballots, raising possibility of legal challenge” appeared first on Election Law Blog.

Voter fraud charges against Paterson Councilman and mayoral candidate Alex Mendez were dropped after six years, Mendez announced Monday. 

The court… Continue reading

The post New Jersey: “Voter fraud charges against Paterson councilman dropped after six years” appeared first on Election Law Blog.

Thursday, April 23 

The State of American Democracy in 2026 (webinar)

12:15pm-1:15pm, PT.Michael Kang, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Lisa Manheim, University of Washington School… Continue reading

The post April 23 Safeguarding Democracy Project Webinar “The State of American Democracy in 2026” (Kang, Manheim, & Tolson) appeared first on Election Law Blog.

Along with former Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), former Gov. and Republican National Committee Chairman Marc Racicot (R-MT), and Transparent Election Initiative Founder Jeff Mangan, Issue One Director of Money in Politics Reform Michael Beckel participated in a panel … Continue reading

The post “Bipartisan panel at Montana State University highlights the necessity of campaign finance reform” appeared first on Election Law Blog.

In the villages that dot Kodiak Island off the coast of southwest Alaska, the post arrives by plane. Mailing a ballot to the archipelago’s hub takes at least two days — if the region’s frequent storms haven’t grounded air… Continue reading

The post “‘It would be catastrophic’: A Supreme Court decision could upend Alaska’s crucial Senate race” appeared first on Election Law Blog.

President Trump’s erratic behavior and extreme comments in recent days and weeks have turbocharged the crazy-like-a-fox-or-just-plain-crazy debate that has followed him on the national political stage for a decade.

A series of disjointed, hard-to-follow and… Continue reading

The post Peter Baker in the NYT: “Trump’s Erratic Behavior and Extreme Comments Revive Mental Health Debate” appeared first on Election Law Blog.

Rumors of the textualist triumph over legislative history have been greatly exaggerated.

A debate has raged among lawyers and judges for decades about the changes the Supreme Court’s textualists have wrought in statutory interpretation. One of… Continue reading

The post Must-read Abbe Gluck: “Legislative history lives on – in secret” appeared first on Election Law Blog.

When you stack it all together – the erosion of the Voting Rights Act, the surge of restrictive state laws, the failure of Congress to act, the intimidation tactics, the push for voter roll… Continue reading

The post “As a supreme court ruling looms, the US is dismantling Black voting power” appeared first on Election Law Blog.

Barr was one of many federal officials — most of them Trump appointees — who refused to bend to the president’s demands, which only intensified after Barr was gone. Although rioters inspired… Continue reading

The post Must-Read Pro-Publica Deep Dive: “Inside Trump’s Effort to ‘Take Over’ the Midterm Elections” appeared first on Election Law Blog.

Democrats and Republicans might not agree on much lately, but they seem to have found common ground on one issue: Reps. Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales need to end their congressional tenure in the wake of sexual abuse allegations.

Both… Continue reading

The post “Calls increase for expulsion of Swalwell and Gonzales over sexual abuse allegations” appeared first on Election Law Blog.

Eligible voters sometimes return mail ballots that fail to satisfy a state’s particular procedural requirements. Vote curing… Continue reading

The post “Reducing Lost Votes by Mail: Evidence on Vote Curing from Pennsylvania” appeared first on Election Law Blog.

The post “Ohio Bill to Enact Top-3 Direct ‘Consensus Choice’ Voting” appeared first on Election Law Blog.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, a lodestar for MAGA culture warriors and right-wing populists in Europe, conceded defeat on Sunday in a general election, breaking the momentum of a global nationalist revival promoted by President Trump.

Speaking to supporters… Continue reading

The post “Hungary’s Orban, Beacon to the Right, Concedes Election Defeat” (Or, a Lesson Trump Could Have Learned for 2020) appeared first on Election Law Blog.

Most polls suggest a straightforward outcome for Hungary’s high-stakes election for a new Parliament on Sunday: Prime Minister Viktor Orban will lose.

But nothing about the vote is that simple.

For a start, the electoral system “is exactly what… Continue reading

The post “Many Polls Say Orban Will Lose. But He Has an Edge Even Before Voting Begins” appeared first on Election Law Blog.

The U.S. Postal Service has been wrestling with one of the most challenging stretches in its 250-year history, trying to stanch a significant cash shortfall through price increases while considering more drastic cost-saving measures.

Now it faces pressure on… Continue reading

The post “Postal Service, Already Under Pressure, Now Faces Trump’s Mail Ballot Order” appeared first on Election Law Blog.

The Georgia legislature recently passed a law banning QR-code ballots in vote tabulation, which is a step in the right direction.  But the Georgia Secretary of State’s response is a plan to continue using QR-code ballots, to “tabulate”… Continue reading

The post “Ballot tabulation by uploading scanned images for OCR is quite insecure” appeared first on Election Law Blog.