Today in History: Election of 1800 Ends in Tie
Today in 1800, electors in the states cast ballots that resulted in an electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr in the United States presidential election. The contest was the product of a bitter campaign season, the first contested presidential election...
The Faithless Electors Case: Not as Bad as it Might Have Been
Monday’s decision in Chiafalo v. Washington (the “faithless electors” case) was a relatively short, crisp, kind-of textualist/originalist opinion by Justice Kagan (for seven Justices, with Thomas, joined in part by Gorsuch, concurring separately). ...
Two new briefs in the Supreme Court’s Electoral College case
The Supreme Court is hearing an important case on the Electoral College, and Independence Institute scholars have been involved in filing two “friend of the court” briefs. The case addresses whether state legislatures may direct how presidential electors vote. This...