Walter Olson
Following my 2024 and 2022 examples, I’ve compiled this catalog of my writings, televised panels, and podcasts since December 2023 on topics of election law and process. As before, I’ve included discussions of former President Trump’s legal entanglements when they bear closely on questions of election law, as with the Jan. 6 prosecutions, but not otherwise:
“Trump’s Immunity Claims Aren’t Likely To Let Him Escape Accountability” (Jan. 4, 2024)
“Hard Questions from the D.C. Circuit on Presidential Immunity” (Jan. 10, 2024)
“To Head Off Strongman Governance, Keep Presidential Power in Check” (Jan. 30, 2024)
“Two Scholars Revisit Trump’s Election Fraud Claims” (Feb. 2, 2024)
“Bogus Claims of Widespread Voter Suppression Make Things Worse” (CQ Researcher, Feb. 16, 2024)
“Cato Scholars on Section 3 Disqualification” (Feb. 16, 2024)
“Efficient, Timely and Reliable: A Framework for Election Law in Nevada” (Mar. 5, 2024)
“How the Electoral College Works to Cabin Fraud and Misconduct” (Mar. 12, 2024)
“Defending Election Integrity with Walter Olson” (“Free the Economy” podcast from the Competitive Enterprise Institute with host Richard Morrison, Mar. 14, 2024)
“Ensuring Election Speed, Efficiency, and Security” (Cato Daily Podcast with interviewer Caleb Brown, Apr. 5, 2022)
“Illegal Alien Voting Isn’t Swaying Federal Elections” (Apr. 22, 2022, summarizing Apr. 11 UnPopulist piece)
“Update: Does the First Amendment Protect Trump in the January 6 Cases?” (Apr. 26, 2024)
“Must California Take Two Months To Resolve a House Race?” (May 10, 2024)
“Shedding Light on the Incidence of Illegal Noncitizen Voting” (May 22, 2024)
“Does Ranked Choice Voting Help or Hurt?” (Federalist Society webinar, Jun. 6, 2024)
“Dispelling Misinformation About Ranked-Choice Voting and Ballot Question 3” (Vote Nevada webinar, Jun. 9)
“Election Policy Roundup” (beliefs that elections were stolen linked to willingness to countenance political violence; Illinois legislature’s ballot access stunt; vote by mail; climate of intimidation; Jul. 10, 2024)
“Biden Bows Out of 2024 Race” (Jul. 22, 2024, and related Cato Daily Podcast interview with Caleb Brown, Jul. 24)
“Election Policy Roundup II” (national electoral commissions; RCV and turnout; evolving partisan implications of turnout; Wales bans political lies; Lodi, Calif. ballot harvesting scandal; Aug. 1, 2024)
“Toughening Laws on Noncitizen Voting: Evaluating the SAVE Act” (Aug. 9, 2024)
“Will the Losing Side Derail Certification of the 2024 Election?” (Aug. 16, 2024)
“We Can Mend Our National Division” (with Michael Sozan and Cissy Jackson; Baltimore Sun, Aug. 18, 2024)
“Where the Candidates Stand on Election Policy” (Aug. 29, 2024)
“Overcoming Political Divisiveness and Restoring National Unity with Walter Olson” (Rational Egoist podcast with Michael Liebowitz, Sept. 9, 2024)
“Why Is the Electoral College Such a Durable Institution?” (Sept. 10, 2024, summarizing Sept. 4 interview with Reuvain Borchardt, Hamodia)
“Trump’s 2020 Stolen Election Claims Are Wrong on the Merits” (Sept. 16, 2024)
“Election Policy Roundup” (catastrophizing routine list maintenance; Bob Bauer forum; Electoral College partisan edge fades; threat to prosecute search engine; Oregon motor-voter foul-up; Oct. 1, 2024)
“Open Primaries Versus a Nonpartisan Universal Primary” (Oct. 11, 2024)
“Florida Moves to Ban Campaign Ad as ‘Sanitary Nuisance’ ” (Oct. 14, 2024)
“Dispelling the Fear and Loathing over Ranked-Choice Voting” (Cato Daily Podcast with Caleb Brown, Oct. 17, 2024)
“How Primary Reform Stalled—and Why It’s Back” (Oct. 18, 2024)
“Elon Musk’s ‘Raffle’ Is Far More Dubious than ‘Zuckerbucks’” (The Dispatch, Oct. 25, 2024)
“Trump Looks for Sycophants While Harris Floats Unserious Election Reform” (The Dispatch, Oct. 29, 2024)
“A Look Back at the Panic Over Big Money in Politics” (reviewing Big Money Unleashed: The Campaign to Deregulate Election Spending by Ann Southworth, Reason, Oct. 30, 2024)
“Election Policy Roundup” (states’ preparation for election crises; new writings and quotes; frivolous West Virginia resolution; Minnesota election deepfake law; more Freedom To Vote Act problems; Oct. 31, 2024)
“Primary Reform: Why Top Four / Top Five?” (Nov. 4, 2024)
“Ballot Issues in 2024” (Cato Daily Podcast with Caleb Brown, Nov. 7, 2024)
“A Setback for Election Reformers?” (Nov. 20, 2024, and related)
“Election Policy Roundup” (“rigged-election” talk falls quiet; a dubious DC noncitizen voting anecdote (and more); lawfare against media covering elections; more on campaign deepfake laws; Blue Dogs take an interest in change; Native communities saved Alaskan reform; Nov. 25, 2024)
“America’s Election System Dodged Disaster This Time—Here’s How We Can Protect It Next Time” (Free Society, Winter 2024)
“The Equal Rights Amendment Isn’t Part of the Constitution” (Dec. 18, 2024, and related Church Coffee podcast with Rob Woodside)
“State VRAs Bring Problems of Their Own” (Jan. 3, 2025)
Was my prediction in the first linked piece that Trump’s immunity claims would not excuse him from accountability my most embarrassing miss? Maybe, but note my observation that accountability in practice would come down to whether Trump’s behavior as a seeker of office would be classed as official or not, a question left unresolved by the Supreme Court in its eventual ruling and unlikely to be resolved any time soon.