Election Law Blog

The Wrap: President Donald Trump’s new AI-powered government website had an answer at odds with a claim he has repeatedly made: Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election.

Bruce Freed and William Laufer write.

David Walbert in The Guardian: When the current Congress ends on that date, all now-seated representatives lose their status as members of Congress.

Fascinating.

Michael Rosin in U.

Here at Slate: Highlights included a “fireside chat” with former Biden Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, now a partner at one of several Big Law firms that sponsored the event; a live taping of Advisory Opinions, a podcast hosted by the conservative……

Previously, I posted about Friday’s conference, including information on how to register and watch online.

CBS News: Kurt Olsen, an election denier who attempted to overturn the 2020 election results in favor of President Trump, has resigned from the Justice Department, sources familiar with his departure told CBS News on Monday.

NYT: Artificial intelligence companies racing to shape how the federal government might regulate their industry amid rising safety and economic concerns are spending heavily to influence which candidates make it to Congress.

This looks good (click link to register): The AALS Election Law Section is hosting a webinar on Friday, October 9th, at 1:00pm–2:00pm ET, discussing the implications of Bost v.

Read the district court opinion.

ProPublica: Earlier this month, the Supreme Court blocked an executive order from President Donald Trump restricting voting by mail in ways that could have thrown the upcoming midterms into chaos.

Stephen Richer, former Recorder for Maricopa County, AZ, has this essay at CATO: When the Supreme Court’s decision came out, I wrote: “This ruling can be a win for the nation’s voter rolls if used responsibly.

On Friday, October 2, starting at 9:00 ET, the Election Law at Ohio State program is hosting a conference to discuss the concept of Consensus Choice (Condorcet) Voting and the prospects for its adoption in U.S. elections.

Jeremy Herb and Tierney Sneed for CNN: “Election officials are planners.

The following is a guest post from Richard Bernstein: The logic of Cervantes v.

Here’s an excerpt from Ned’s essay: That brings us to the fear, recently expressed by Jeffrey Toobin (among others), that Republicans will be able to orchestrate a kind of coup on January 3 by denying Democrats their rightful seats as… Continue reading The

ELB readers might know that I tend to blog a decent amount about federal courts issues in election law more generally, and standing issues in election law more specifically.

NewsNation: The State Department is “assessing” how to share passport information with state and local governments, as well as some nonprofit groups, ahead of the midterm elections.

AJC: Voting records in Georgia and Nevada show Georgia House candidate David Dillie cast ballots in both states in the 2026 primary elections.

…for blogging these last two weeks.

Antonios Kouroutakis, who is an Associate Professor at IE University in Madrid, Spain has recently published a book with the above title.

Votebeat and the Texas Tribune: Texas’ backlog of at least 200,000 voter registration applications and updates, which election officials must now process in the weeks before the critical midterm elections due to state error, is highlighting just how diffi…

Robinson Woodward-Burns report at the Brennan Center: The data on state constitutional amendments shows the broad range of rights affected and how reformers approach changes to the documents.

WSJ: The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the federal government to deploy its own immigration database to check voters’ citizenship, greenlighting a key part of the Trump administration’s push to expand its role in elections.

Cal Matters: FBI agents paid a visit to Shasta County last week after Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis claimed ballots looked, felt and smelled funny as workers were counting them in the June primary, an election he happened to lose. … Continue reading The

Reuters: US states may have added more than 30,000 self-declared non-citizens to the nation’s voter rolls since 2000 because of software glitches and clerical errors made while processing their driver’s license and state ID applications, according to offi…

This should be a great conversation: The American Bar Association and American University Washington College of Law will host the virtual program, “On the Docket: Looking Ahead at the New Supreme Court Term,” on Sept. 29.

You can find the 5 page opinion at this link.

Miles Park for NPR: ‘[A]cross the country this midterm year, local officials say they’re hearing from voters confused by the process — and worried about potential federal interference in the election. … ‘”‘How is this going to work?

When teaching Citizen United, I have my students run through a series of hypotheticals to illustrate the line between been private-sector corporations, which have a First Amendment right to campaign spending, and government-owned corporations, which do no…

POLITICO: ‘An appeals court on Wednesday reinstated an Ohio law requiring people to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote at motor vehicles offices, a win for Republicans seeking to tighten voter requirements nationwide.

POLITICO: ‘Several local election officials in Missouri are advising voters to consider delaying casting their ballots until the Supreme Court resolves a tangled legal fight around the state’s congressional map.

A guide for journalists from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Here’s what I told Dahia for the Amicus podcast: Dahlia: I’m mindful of the fact that there is such a fine line between what we’re calling catastrophizing and what is explaining possible scenarios and really trying to see around corners… Continue reading…

See Cervantes v.

N.Y.

Nick Corasaniti for the N.Y.

The court dismissed the state’s appeal as improvidently granted without any explanation.

POLITICO’s report on this disturbing development: ‘A POLITICO reporter was denied access to the White House Thursday and his press credentials confiscated after a judge ordered the Trump administration overnight to immediately restore access for news orga…

Hansi Lo Wang for NPR: ‘Trump administration officials are facing new demands from Congress to explain why the Census Bureau’s parent agency removed language banning political interference from its scientific integrity policy.

Here’s an excerpt from his essay, titled Guardrails Do Not Defend Themselves: Preparation for the 2026 Midterms, which we published yesterday at the Democracy Project: I chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 2011 to 2014… We will ne…

Here’s an excerpt from Justin’s essay, urging greater calm about how smoothly the election process is likely to be in the fall: At this point, we just have to tune out the noise.

Votebeat and Texas Tribune: ‘Just weeks before the pivotal midterm elections, Texas election officials have discovered that an unknown number of voter registration applications have not been processed due to an error by the Texas Department of Safety.

N.Y.

Jim Gardner’s new book is available.

Bipartisan Policy Center: ‘The Bipartisan Policy Center’s Elections Project helps state election official associations analyze bills and weigh in with their legislatures.

After I posted on Birch Bayh’s central role in democratic reform, I learned of this extensive article with the above title that Gerard Magliocca posted last week on SSRN.

Stay tuned.

A sobering story from Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Michael Scherer for The Atlantic: ‘Of all the outside advisers urging President Trump to seize control of federal elections this fall, the attorney Peter Ticktin can claim the deepest ties;… Continue reading