Election Law Blog https://electionlawblog.org/ The law of politics and the politics of law Thu, 16 Jul 2026 22:34:16 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/cropped-ELB-1221-1-32x32.png Election Law Blog https://electionlawblog.org/ 32 32 “Trump takes aim at US election system, which experts call ‘fundamentally secure’” https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157431 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 22:34:15 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157431 Straight Arrow News, in anticipation of tonight’s address:

President Donald Trump will deliver a prime-time address Thursday night on election security, promising “really big news” as his administration reportedly prepares to release newly declassified intelligence related to the 2020… Continue reading

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]]> “Georgia’s Senators Ridicule Trump’s Election Fraud Claims” https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157429 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 21:22:16 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157429 NYT on Senators Warnock’s and Ossoff’s efforts to get out ahead of the President’s primetime speech this evening: “The two senators and their Democratic allies have ridiculed the president’s fixation on his loss in 2020 and the accompanying Democratic victories… Continue reading

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]]> “White House teleprompter operator made more than $100K betting on Trump’s speeches: Sources” https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157427 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 21:17:24 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157427 ABC News:

President Donald Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator is believed to have made tens of thousands of dollars by placing bets on more than a dozen of Trump’s speeches on the prediction market Kalshi, federal investigators with the… Continue reading

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]]> Institute for Responsive Government on Likely Impact of SAVE America Act https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157425 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 20:42:40 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157425 IRG offers this analysis of the state-by-state impact the bill could have on voter ID, if it were to become law:

Currently, not a single state meets the restrictive ID criteria in the bill, though Ohio comes close. Meeting these… Continue reading

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]]> “Race and Registration Roadblocks” https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157422 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 20:33:03 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157422 Rebekah Herrick, Joshua M. Jansa, Matthew P. Motta and Abida Sultana in Election Law Journal. Here’s the abstract:

We consider equity in pathways to democratic participation in the United States by examining the effects of voter registration laws on… Continue reading

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]]> Two Supreme Court cert denials of interest https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157419 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 20:30:16 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157419 While it’s news from last month, I didn’t want to pass over a couple of notable cert denials from the Court.

The first was La Union del Pueblo Entero v. Paxton. The Fifth Circuit reversed the district court and… Continue reading

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]]> “Election denial activists briefed at White House ahead of Trump’s primetime speech” https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157418 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 20:23:40 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157418 MS Now:

The White House hosted about two dozen Trump-aligned activists this week ahead of President Donald Trump’s primetime address on the 2020 election. The session was convened by conservative lawyer Cleta Mitchell and attended by figures who have… Continue reading

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]]> “Survivor”-style voting https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157385 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 16:32:04 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157385 Two days ago, Dan linked to Steven Hill’s Substack piece lamenting that the procedure that Maine Democrats have adopted for choosing a Senate nominee after Graham Platner’s withdrawal is similar to the method of eliminating contestants in the TV show… Continue reading

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]]> Trump Spokesperson Flubs the Name of the National Voter Registration Act in White House Statement https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157413 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 15:42:36 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157413 Politico:

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement that Trump is “committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections,” noting that this includes ensuring that non-citizens cannot vote and that voter rolls are up to date.… Continue reading

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]]> What to Expect, When You are Expecting the President to Lie (Again, About Elections) https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157403 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:49:03 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157403 Like others in this space, I will be listening to the President’s speech tonight, which is reportedly going to make claims about foreign (perhaps Chinese) election interference in 2020 and supposedly argue that passage of the SAVE America Act… Continue reading

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]]> Highlights from Day 1 of Blanche Confirmation Hearing https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157404 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:33:10 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157404 WaPo offers this summary of key moments from yesterday’s proceedings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is considering Todd Blanche’s nomination to serve as U.S. Attorney General. Election-related highlights:

“Blanche repeatedly sidestepped questions about whether he supports Trump’s decision to … Continue reading

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]]> “‘Death by a thousand cuts’: Inside Trump’s remaking of American elections” https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157395 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:09:26 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157395 Politico:

President Donald Trump seemingly has a plan for the nation’s election apparatus: Dismantle the existing system with a series of cuts, firings and threats, rather than a sledgehammer blow….

And now, Trump is set to deliver a speech Thursday evening… Continue reading

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]]> CDT FAQ: “Voting System Vulnerabilities and How They Can Be Weaponized” https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157391 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:06:17 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157391 Geoff Hale of the Center for Democracy and Technology, helping us distinguish what’s real from what’s not in preparation for tonight’s presidential address:

Vulnerabilities in voting systems are real and worth fixing. At the same time, the manner… Continue reading

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]]> “‘Scared s–tless’: Republicans brace for Trump’s primetime speech” https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157389 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:01:15 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157389 Politico on GOP reaction to Trump’s planned address on elections this evening:

President Donald Trump is promising to reveal “really big news” on election security. Many Republicans wish he wouldn’t.

The president’s speech, expected to be delivered in prime time Thursday from… Continue reading

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]]> “The Mystery Money Powering Trump’s Second Term” https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157387 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 13:58:35 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157387 WSJ on the almost $782 million that Trump-linked groups have received since the 2024 election:

Presidents have always raised money from private donors—to run for office, throw inaugural balls and build presidential libraries. 

But Donald Trump has turned his second… Continue reading

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]]> “Ranked Choice Voting, Campaign Spending, and Independent Expenditures: An Exploratory Comparative Analysis” https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157382 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 11:46:29 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157382 Kevin Clelland and Jeanne Clelland on SSRN. From the abstract:

This study examines the relationship between campaign expenditures and electoral performance in single-winner instant runoff voting (IRV) elections compared to plurality elections. Using data from competitive primary elections in… Continue reading

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]]> “Jay Clayton Faces Tough Questions in Hearing Over 2020 Election” https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157380 Wed, 15 Jul 2026 21:26:51 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157380 NYT:

Democrats on Wednesday repeatedly questioned Jay Clayton, President Trump’s nominee to lead the nation’s intelligence community, about his refusal to answer the question of who won the 2020 election.

Mr. Clayton’s response — that Joseph R. Biden Jr.… Continue reading

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]]> “Blanche Faces Crucial Hurdle After Rocky Hearing” https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157375 Wed, 15 Jul 2026 21:20:26 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157375 NYT:

The fate of Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general remained uncertain on Wednesday after a rocky confirmation hearing in which a Republican senator raised serious questions about his role in creating a $1.8 billion fund for purported victims… Continue reading

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]]> “FBI Has Looked at Using Questionable AI Tech to Review Signatures on Seized Mail-In Ballots” https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157373 Wed, 15 Jul 2026 21:11:21 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157373 Pro Publica:

The FBI has explored using artificial intelligence to assess the validity of signatures on tens of thousands of mail-in ballot envelopes seized from Fulton County, Georgia, the latest push in the Trump administration’s unprecedented reinvestigation of the… Continue reading

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]]> Is Trump in His Thursday Speech on “Free and Fair Elections” Going to Try to Order the (Commissioner-Less) EAC to Decertify Dominion Voting Machines used in 11 States? https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157371 Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:46:13 +0000 https://electionlawblog.org/?p=157371 Plausible theory from Michael McDonald.

As with many things that Trump is trying to do with elections, I expect such actions to be challenged in court and for challengers being likely to prevail.

We’ll see.

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