Missouri Republicans tried to make voter-initiated constitutional amendments impossible by requiring passage in every congressional district instead of just statewide. Voters rejected the amendment in not just every congressional district but every county too. Trump won all but four counties there

Stephen Wolf@stephenwolf.bsky.social · 17h ago

NEW: Missouri voters have rejected Amendment 4, which Republicans had passed to make citizen-initiated constitutional amendments effectively impossible. It would have required initiatives to pass in every congressional district—not just statewide—giving the overwhelmingly red districts a veto

Call for Papers for the 2027 Election Law Conference at USC Gould School of Law! Feel free to reach out with any questions. electionlawblog.org?p=157307

Call for Papers for the 2027 Election Law Conference at USC Gould School of Law! Feel free to reach out with any questions. electionlawblog.org?p=157307

Relying on the Supreme Court's decision in Callais and its gutting of Section 2 of the VRA, the OLC released a memo declaring unconstitutional the EEOC's interpretive rules and guidance documents governing Title VII's disparate-impact provisions. Here's my take: electionlawblog.org?p=156693

Trump Administration says Callais's Logic Applies to Title VII's Disparate Impact Provisions #ELB

The collateral damage of Louisiana v. Callais is spreading to employment discrimination. Relying on Callais, the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) has issued a memo declaring unconstitutional the EEOC’s i...

electionlawblog.org

Some thoughts on tonight's indefensible shadow docket ruling in the Alabama congressional redistricting dispute. electionlawblog.org?p=156546

The Supreme Court Rewards Alabama's Defiance #ELB

Earlier tonight, in yet another 6-3 shadow docket order, the Supreme Court stayed a three-judge district court’s injunction, thereby allowing Alabama to use a congressional map that was found to be in...

electionlawblog.org

electionlawblog.org?p=156075

Breaking: Supreme Court Greenlights Alabama Mid-Decade Redistricting #ELB

In a 6-3 shadow docket order, and over a dissent by Justice Sotomayor, the Supreme Court effectively allowed Alabama to re-draw its congressional redistricting map. You can find the order here. Follow...

electionlawblog.org

Here's an in-depth analysis of the Supreme Court's decision in Callais that effectively guts Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act: electionlawblog.org?p=155755

The Callais Catastrophe #ELB

The Supreme Court has decided Louisiana v. Callais, and the result could very well be catastrophic for minority political power. The big-ticket takeaways are clear: the Court has gutted Section 2 of t...

electionlawblog.org

With Callais not out yet & no opinion likely until late March at the earliest, it is becoming functionally too late for most southern states to redraw maps. By the end of March, primaries will have happened in TX, NC, & MS & mail ballots will go out shortly after in AL, GA, and LA.

In a new Election Law Blog, I argue that, in prepping for a post-Trump world, we need to re-think preclearance. Using the mid-decade redistricting fights as an example, the post argues that DOJ should be sidelined and/or courts given power to review preclearance grants. electionlawblog.org?p=154611

Rethinking Preclearance in the Age of Trump #ELB

With Monday’s shadow docket decision in Malliotakis v. Williams, the Staten Island NYVRA case, the Supreme Court has doubled-down on its resistance to lower courts issuing preliminary injunctions agai...

electionlawblog.org

I've just submitted a new paper out this law review cycle. In Liquidating Reconstruction, I ask what the Reconstruction Amendments can teach us about liquidation and vice versa. This paper is especially timely given that 2027 is the 150th anniversary of the end of Reconstruction.

My book is available for pre-order! Get your copy here: www.cambridge.org/us/universit...

Remember how the first Trump administration tried to "enforce the VRA" by adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census? Well it appears we're gonna have that fight again, and this time a recent lawsuit brought by Missouri is the opening volley. electionlawblog.org?p=154179

The Brewing Fight Over the 2030 Census’s Citizenship Question #ELB

Last week, Missouri filed a complaint alleging that undocumented immigrants and temporary visa holders (such as those here on student or work visas) should not be counted during the 2030 Census and ap...

electionlawblog.org

Missouri has filed a lawsuit seeking to exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2030 Census and apportionment. Remarkably, Missouri is also seeking a "redo" of the 2020 enumeration "if necessary." No idea how that would even be possible at this stage. electionlawblog.org?p=154059

"Missouri Attorney General Hanaway Files Suit Against U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau To Cease Counting Illegal Aliens, Requests Census Recount" #ELB

You can find Missouri’s AG’s press release here. The complaint is here. This is yet another attempt to exclude undocumented immigrants from the decennial apportionment. The first Trump administration ...

electionlawblog.org

I'm thrilled to announce that I’ve signed a contract with Cambridge University Press to write a book on the Fifteenth Amendment. The target publication date is late 2028. The tentative title is "The Fifteenth Amendment: An Unabridged History of the Fight against Racial Discrimination in Voting."

SCOTUS is sitting on a cert petition in a major Section 2 case about implied causes of action. There's likely a dissent from denial of cert or its being held for Callais. This has very worrisome implications for the VRA's constitutionality. electionlawblog.org?p=153412

Turtle Mountain Cert Petition Remains Pending: What Does this mean for Callais? #ELB

As readers of this blog know, the Eighth Circuit recently ruled that there is no implied cause of action under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and that Section 1983 cannot provide a jurisdictional ...

electionlawblog.org

“‘Constitutional hardball’: National gerrymander battle turns the heat up in Missouri” electionlawblog.org?p=153339

"‘Constitutional hardball’: National gerrymander battle turns the heat up in Missouri" #ELB

Politico: Republicans and Democrats are quietly pouring millions of dollars into a fight trying to block Missouri’s new gerrymandered congressional map, as each party scrambles for any advantage they ...

electionlawblog.org

The first mid-decade redistricting case is headed to the Supreme Court's shadow docket. Here's why the so-called Purcell Principle--which counsels against enjoining redistricting maps close to an election--should not apply here: electionlawblog.org?p=153101

Mid-Decade Redistricting and the Purcell Principle #ELB

Yesterday, a three-judge district court preliminarily enjoined Texas’s mid-decade congressional redistricting map. This case will be promptly appealed to the Supreme Court, and it will be the first of...

electionlawblog.org

Hot off the presses! I helped organize a symposium on the 150th anniversary of Minor v. Happersett, where the Supreme Court held that women were not enfranchised by the 14th Amendment. The case originated in St. Louis, so it was rewarding to shine a light on this overlooked piece of local history.

Missouri is seeking to revive the independent state legislature theory by insisting there's a clear statement rule. The rejected legal theory that plagued the 2020 election makes a return in the mid-decade redistricting wars. electionlawblog.org?p=152593

"Redistricting foes blast Hanaway for trying to stop referendum on Missouri map" #ELB

Missouri seeks to revive the independent state legislature theory, this time its by insisting that there’s a clear-statement rule. I may have more to say about this case in the near future. In the mea...

electionlawblog.org

Here's my take on today's big voting rights argument in Louisiana v. Callais. The Justices re-hashed arguments that had been considered three Terms ago in Milligan, and they appeared more interested in tweaking the VRA than in overturning it. electionlawblog.org?p=152557

Callais Re-Argument Recap #ELB

Earlier today, I attended the oral argument in Callais. My global takeaway is a bit more sanguine than Rick’s. When the case was set for re-argument, the new QP flagged Section 2’s constitutionality: ...

electionlawblog.org

In advance of tomorrow's re-argument in the major voting rights case of Louisiana v. Callais, I've got two posts on the Election Law Blog. I'll be attending the argument and will provide an eyewitness account on ELB as well.

Can't wait to read this!

Rick Hasen @rickhasen.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Very Excited to Announce My New Book Project, “Unbent Arc: The Rise and Decline of American Democracy 1964-2024)” electionlawblog.org?p=152307 I’m very excited to be working on this major project, bringing together my many strands of research on democracy and election law.

Really excited to be attending the 2025 Election Law Conference at Florida State University this weekend. We've got a great line-up of speakers! electionlawblog.org?p=151984

The 2025 Election Law Conference at Florida State University #ELB

This weekend, FSU will host the 2025 Election Law Conference. Jacob Eisler is the organizer, and I am serving as an informal advisor. This conference is a sequel to last year’s Election Law Conference...

electionlawblog.org

I filed an amicus brief in Callais, this fall's blockbuster voting rights case. I make three arguments. First, the Fifteenth Amendment is the constitutional provision that bans racial discrimination in voting. Second, Shaw should be overturned. Finally, Section 2 of the VRA is constitutional.

Preclearance under the Voting Rights Act was designed to stop the game of whack-a-mole that was Southern States defying federal court orders. Alabama did just that in 2023. Unfortunately, Alabama dodged the hammer once again. electionlawblog.org?p=151462

Alabama Dodges Bail-in #ELB

Yesterday, the three-judge district court in the Alabama congressional redistricting litigation declined to bail-in the State to the VRA’s preclearance regime. You can find the district court’s decisi...

electionlawblog.org

Happening today!

Travis Crum@traviscrum.bsky.social · last yr.

Tomorrow, there's a big hearing on whether to bail-in Alabama under the Voting Rights Act, meaning that it would have to get federal approval to enact any new congressional redistricting plans through the 2030 Census. Here's my thoughts on the Election Law Blog: electionlawblog.org?p=151207

Tomorrow, there's a big hearing on whether to bail-in Alabama under the Voting Rights Act, meaning that it would have to get federal approval to enact any new congressional redistricting plans through the 2030 Census. Here's my thoughts on the Election Law Blog: electionlawblog.org?p=151207

The Prospect of Bailing-in Alabama #ELB

Tomorrow, the three-judge district court in the Alabama congressional redistricting litigation will hold a hearing on whether to bail-in Alabama to the VRA’s preclearance regime. If bailed-in, Alabama...

electionlawblog.org

What's taking the Supreme Court so long to issue a re-argument order in last Term's big voting rights case? electionlawblog.org?p=151175

Waiting for Callais #ELB

Earlier today, Rick Pildes flagged the Court’s inexplicable month-long delay in issuing a re-argument order in Louisiana v. Callais, last Term’s—and now next Term’s—major Shaw case. I agree with Pilde...

electionlawblog.org

New paper! Along with my co-authors, Prof. Susan Appleton and Hannah Keidan, I have posted a short symposium foreword, "The Curiously Minor Role of Minor v. Happersett," on SSRN. Anyone interested in legal history, election law, or women's rights should check it out: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Breaking: Three-Judge District Court Finds Alabama’s Congressional Redistricting Plan Intentionally Discriminated Against Black Voters **Updated** electionlawblog.org?p=149829 by the great @traviscrum.bsky.social

Breaking: Three-Judge District Court Finds Alabama's Congressional Redistricting Plan Intentionally Discriminated Against Black Voters **Updated** #ELB

The court’s 571-page opinion is here. This decision is on remand from the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in Allen v. Milligan. This is the latest decision in the long-running Section 2 litigation against ...

electionlawblog.org