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☆ The chaotic history of how we elect presidential candidates
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

It is worth remembering that there are no constitutional provisions regarding presidential primaries and very few details about the election of the president itself. AdvertisementWhat were early presidential elections like? In the wake of the violence, Democrats launched a massive overhaul of their presidential primary process. According to some officials who worked on the commission, their changes had the unintended effect of popularizing state presidential primary elections. In short, party officials’ hands are initially tied, even if they want to cast the deciding votes.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, hasn’t, Here's, George Washington, framers hadn’t, John Adam, Thomas Jefferson’s, Mason, Jill Lepore, Andrew Jackson’s, enshrine, Jackson, Daniel Feller, Andrew Jackson, FDR, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Roosevelt, Dwight D, Eisenhower, Robert A, Taft's, Sen, John F, Richard Pildes, Lyndon B, Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr, Robert Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, McGovern, superdelegates, Bernie Sanders ’, Joe Biden, Biden Organizations: Service, LBJ, Masonic Party, Democratic Party, The, Democratic, GOP, Bull Moose Party, Hampshire GOP, Republican, Kennedy’s, West Virginia, New York University School of Law, Convention, Chicago, Democrats, Republican Party, New Hampshire Democrats, Democratic National Committee, Biden Locations: U.S, Hampshire, West, Vietnam, Chicago, Iowa, South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina

☆ Opinion | The Supreme Court Rejected a Dangerous Elections Theory. But It’s Not All Good News.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Richard H. Pildes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The court held that the Constitution imposes some limits on the way state courts interpret their own state constitutions. These limits also apply to the way state courts interpret state election statutes — as well as the way state election administrators apply state election statutes in federal elections. Yet the court offers no guidance, no standard at all, for lower courts to know when a state court has gone too far. Indeed, the court announced this constitutional constraint but avoided telling us even whether the North Carolina Supreme Court — in the decision the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed — had violated this vague limitation. But the state court interpreted general provisions in the state constitution — such as that requiring elections to be “free and fair” — to in effect ban partisan gerrymandering.

Persons: ”, — Organizations: North Carolina, U.S, Supreme Locations: —

☆ Opinion | If Democrats Win Back the House, They Will Have John Roberts to Thank
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Thomas B. Edsall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

And Milligan weakens Florida’s defense for eliminating a Black opportunity district around Jacksonville, which hinges on race-conscious districting being unconstitutional. Put it all together and at least 2-3, and quite possibly more, congressional districts are likely to change hands because of Milligan. Lower courts have found already that the current maps in those states likely, or do, violate Sec. In Texas, it’s possible one or more new Hispanic VRA districts will have to be created. In that context, Roberts continued, “we are not persuaded by Alabama’s arguments that section 2 as interpreted in Gingles exceeds the remedial authority of Congress.”

Persons: Milligan, Wasserman, Cook, ”, “ Lean, Nicholas Stephanopoulos, Stephanopoulos, Richard Pildes, Pildes, John Roberts’s, Roberts Organizations: Democratic, Harvard, Republican Locations: Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina, Washington, It’s, Georgia, Texas, Jacksonville, N.Y.U, Alabama , Louisiana, Gingles

The tumult that broke out last month during the election of Kevin McCarthy for speaker illustrated the potential for profound dysfunction in the new House Republican majority. Here is a closer look at the fractious House Republican caucus. Chart of House Republicans highlights members who denied the 2020 election results, were supported by the House Freedom Fund, or both. Representative Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, who has also denied the 2020 election results, defeated Representative Liz Cheney in the primary. A Venn diagram shows the Republican newcomers in the House who either denied the 2020 election results, were supported by the House Freedom Fund, or both.

☆ Opinion | Why the Fringiest Fringe of the G.O.P. Now Has So Much Power Over the Party
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Richard H. Pildes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Control over committee assignments was once a powerful tool party leaders had to encourage members to follow the party line and punish those who did not. Those challenging Mr. McCarthy for speaker know they run the risk of being punished in their committee assignments, should he eventually prevail. The risk of cable television hosts turning on them is a much greater concern than failing to get particular committee assignments. Political fragmentation is the dispersion of political power into so many different hands and centers of power that governing effectively becomes far more difficult. In the proportional-representation systems of Western Europe, the traditionally dominant large political parties have splintered into a kaleidoscope of smaller parties.

Democratic leaders in New Hampshire and Iowa quickly responded that they plan to ignore the DNC, follow state law and hold their nominations as planned. A New Hampshire law explicitly sets the state's primary date ahead of any DNC calendar. The changes could ease Biden's path to re-election by reshuffling the calendar to favor states that supported his nomination, in particular South Carolina. Biden's 2020 presidential campaign was struggling until he won South Carolina and went on to gain the party's nomination. "Joe Biden's political career was defined when South Carolina Democrats essentially handed him the Democratic Party nomination and the presidency," said Scala.

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, local election officials became frequent targets of supporters of former President Donald Trump who supported his false claims of election fraud. Election officials also said that the courts could inject chaos into the process if results are contested for weeks following the vote. Droves of election workers throughout Georgia quit their positions following the 2020 election. And in Pennsylvania, nearly 50 top election officials have left their post within the past two years. “Election workers and election officials leave or stop coming in, more errors can occur as a result, which in turn can fuel disinformation,” he said.

If election deniers in those races win, their ability to affect future elections could be made more robust by having cooperative election deniers in their state houses to help push legislation remaking certain election laws in those states. The group’s analysis found that election deniers were most prevalent in Arizona state legislative races, where they made up 87% of all Republican nominees in those races. In both Pennsylvania and Michigan, 62% of all Republican state legislative nominees in each state were election deniers, the group found. In Minnesota, 42% of all Republican nominees in state legislative races were election deniers, while in Nevada, 31% were. That included several incumbents and candidates in Minnesota who'd who had questioned or challenged the results of the 2020 election.

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