U.S. Elections Under Pressure from White House
Summary
Stanford Law professor Nate Persley discusses the escalating legal battles surrounding the 2026 midterms, focusing on mid-decade redistricting and mail-in voting. The episode covers the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Missouri’s pre-redistricting lines, highlighting a new era of partisan gerrymandering and "tit-for-tat" political retaliation. Persley also analyzes the suspension of a controversial Postal Service rule that would have required states to upload voter data for mail ballots, warning that such last-minute changes create chaos and suppress voter participation.
Topics discussed
Introduction: The new era of redistricting litigation
Show intro and guest Nate Persily background
Overview of Missouri redistricting and mail ballot issues
Missouri mid-decade redistricting and the 2026 election lines
Supreme Court intervention and Justice Kavanaugh's denial
Procedural delays and the secretary of state's role
Historical context of redistricting and gerrymandering
Legal shifts: Shelby County and the Voting Rights Act
The return of the 'general ticket' and single-party delegations
Comparing the House to the pre-17th Amendment Senate
Potential federal legislation and the 2030 redistricting cycle
2030 Census concerns and the definition of 'inhabitants'
Citizenship questions and the history of race in the census
Shift to mail-in voting and the role of the Postal Service
Federal executive orders and state election authority
Postal Service portal and voter matching requirements
Implementation failures and state challenges to the new rules
Supreme Court's initial rejection of the mail ballot challenge
Ripeness, mootness, and the risk of election chaos
Government arguments and the lack of fraud evidence
Federal-state power dynamics and the Purcell principle
Supreme Court fracturing and suppression through chaos
Closing remarks and call to action
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