New year. Old battles. 1. Congress makes a (symbolic?) effort to reform election laws The first bill proposed by the new Democratic-controlled Congress is H.R.1 — modestly titled the “For the People Act of 2019” — a sweeping proposal to improve voting...
1. Surprised? Florida’s recount is a dumpster fire of flawed election laws, right-wing conspiracy theories, baseless “fraud” charges, and inept ballot design Florida’s Senate and governor races are all too close to call and undergoing a...
1. Georgia’s Brian Kemp has a stunningly bad record on voting rights Georgia Secretary of State and would-be Governor Brian Kemp has not only embraced Donald Trump’s political agenda, but also his open hostility to voting rights. As the highest elections...
When Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement on June 27th, many of us looked at it as a big blow for hopes for the Supreme Court to help reign in partisan gerrymandering. Over the last few years, there had been much speculation about how Justice Kennedy might...
The Supreme Court is not coming to the rescue on voting rights It’s been three bad weeks in a row if you care about protecting the right to vote. In three straight weeks, the Supreme Court has ruled against efforts to defend the vote against efforts to suppress...
Supreme Court punts on Wisconsin, Maryland gerrymandering cases In two rulings today, Gill v. Whitford and Benisek v. Lamone, the Supreme Court effectively hit the snooze button on making a meaningful decision on partisan gerrymandering....
Within the next few weeks, possibly days, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on two cases that will have a major impact on the fairness of elections and voting. It’s not hyperbole to say that these decisions could shape the nature of American...
Gerrymandering distorts the democratic process, skewing election outcomes in ways that don’t fairly reflect the electorate. In many states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and North Carolina, partisan gerrymandering has grossly distorted state and...
Make it easier for everyone to vote? 39% say no. A recent Pew Reseach Center survey showed that while 59% of Americans polled support the idea that “everything possible should be done to make it easy for every citizen to vote,” 39%...
“Extreme Gerrymandering” report pours cold water on optimism for Democratic House in 2019 A report this week from the Brennan Center, one of the leading authorities on voting rights and election law, offered a sobering take on the prospects of the...
On Wisconsin? For the better part of the past decade, Wisconsin has been a case study in how many ways determined and shameless legislators can undermine democracy at the state level. After the 2010 election brought in Republican Governor Scott Walker and GOP control...
