Election Law

Trump supporters file legal challenges to vote recounts in three states

Corrected: Donald Trump supporters are seeking to halt vote recounts in the presidential election in the states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. Among those seeking to block the recounts is Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, report Reuters, Politico, the Detroit Free Press and the New York Times. The recount requests…

Dec 2, 2016 1:15 PM CST

Supreme Court considers challenges to racial gerrymandering

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear appeals today from special three-judge federal panels that involve race considerations in redistricting in North Carolina and Virginia.

Dec 1, 2016 2:50 AM CST

Law profs debate electoral college role after Lessig calls for Trump rejection

Should the electoral college put Hillary Clinton in the White House because she won the popular vote? Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig answered the question in the affirmative in a Thanksgiving Day op-ed that has spurred disagreement, the National Law Journal (sub. req.) reports. “Conventional wisdom tells us that the…

Nov 30, 2016 7:45 AM CST

Trump chooses Jones Day partner as White House counsel

President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Jones Day partner Donald McGahn as his White House counsel. Trump said in an announcement that McGahn has a “brilliant legal mind, excellent character and a deep understanding of constitutional law,” report the National Law Journal (sub. req.), the Washington Post, Reuters and Bloomberg News.…

Nov 28, 2016 8:45 AM CST

Single-payer health initiative goes down in defeat in Colorado

Voters in Colorado overwhelmingly rejected a proposed law that would have established a single-payer health care system in the state. On Tuesday, the proposed Amendment 69, or “ColoradoCare,” lost in a landslide at the polls. According to The Denver Post, nearly 80 percent of voters voted against the measure. The…

Nov 9, 2016 2:00 PM CST

Judge appears exasperated with Trump lawyer, refuses order to preserve Nevada poll data

A judge in Clark County, Nevada, on Tuesday ordered a lawyer for the Donald Trump campaign to sit down and denied his request for an order to preserve polling data at four polling places that stayed open late last Friday.

Nov 8, 2016 2:54 PM CST

DC federal court upholds limits on state political parties’ use of soft-money donations

A federal court in Washington, D.C., has rejected a First Amendment challenge to the ban on state and local political parties’ use of unlimited, soft-money political donations for activities affecting federal elections. A three-judge panel of the district court ruled on Monday in an opinion by Circuit Judge Sri Srinivasan,…

Nov 8, 2016 11:50 AM CST

SCOTUS refuses to reinstate ban on campaign activities in Ohio that could intimidate voters

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused a request by the Ohio Democratic Party to reinstate a federal judge’s ban on campaign activities near polling places that could intimidate voters. Democrats sought Supreme Court intervention after the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Sunday overturned a federal…

Nov 7, 2016 1:58 PM CST

Supreme Court allows Arizona to enforce law banning ‘ballot harvesting’

The U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday reinstated Arizona’s “ballot harvesting” law that bars most third parties from collecting early ballots. The order stayed a decision by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that had blocked enforcement of the law, report the New York Times, SCOTUSblog, BuzzFeed News…

Nov 7, 2016 10:38 AM CST

If you cast a write-in vote for president, will it count? State laws differ

Thinking of casting a write-in vote for president? It may not be counted. You can write in anyone on the ballot in 10 states and Washington, D.C., the Washington Post reports. But you will face more hurdles if you want your write-in to count in other states. Eight states don’t…

Nov 7, 2016 7:00 AM CST

Judge refuses to lift poll-watching restrictions, criticizes GOP for late-filed lawsuit

A Pennsylvania law restricting poll watchers to voting places in their own counties will remain undisturbed as a result of a federal judge’s ruling on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Gerald Pappert of Philadelphia refused an injunction request by the Republican Party of Pennsylvania that would have allowed poll watchers to…

Nov 4, 2016 10:56 AM CDT

Appeals courts are dismantling stricter voter ID laws

The rulings came quickly this past summer in a steady drumbeat that pleased progressives and disappointed conservatives.

Nov 1, 2016 12:15 AM CDT

Law firm partners received ‘bonuses’ after making political contributions; was it legal?

At least two politicians are returning campaign donations to a Boston personal-injury law firm after a Boston Globe report said high-profile partners who donated money were quickly reimbursed with law firm bonuses. Partners at the Thornton Law Firm donated nearly $1.6 million to Democratic committees and politicians over a four-year…

Oct 31, 2016 12:11 PM CDT

DA’s office flip flops on whether Justin Timberlake is being investigated for ballot selfie

The District Attorney’s office in Shelby County, Tennessee, says Justin Timberlake is not under criminal investigation for violating the state’s law against ballot selfies. A contrary statement by a spokesperson for the office was incorrect, according to District Attorney General Amy Weirich. “No one in our office is currently investigating…

Oct 26, 2016 10:10 AM CDT

How a Trump election challenge could play out

A challenge to election results by Donald Trump could start and ultimately end in the states. State laws governing recounts vary, CNN reports in an article by University of Texas law professor Steve Vladeck. Issues include when a candidate can request a recount and when the recount is required. Some…

Oct 24, 2016 8:00 AM CDT