January 3, 2022 10:11AM 

# My Year’s Worth Of Election Law Writing 

By [Walter Olson](https://www.cato.org/people/walter-olson) 

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I just compiled this list for other purposes and figured I might as well share it in light of the upcoming Jan. 6 anniversary. It’s a catalogue of my writings (together with a few podcasts) since November 2020 on topics of election law and process:

- “No, State Legislatures Aren’t Going To Override The Popular Vote on Presidential Electors” ([Nov. 6, 2020](https://cato.org/blog/no-state-legislatures-arent-going-override-popular-vote-presidential-electors))
- “The Framers Wisely Left Election Practice Decentralized” ([Dec. 3, 2020](https://cato.org/blog/framers-wisely-left-election-practice-decentralized))
- “Don’t Count On The Supreme Court To Hear Any Election Challenges” ([Dec. 4, 2020](https://cato.org/blog/dont-count-supreme-court-hear-any-election-challenges))
- “Why Do Election Fraud Claims Fall On Receptive Ears?” ([Dec. 7, 2020](https://cato.org/blog/why-do-election-fraud-claims-fall-receptive-ears))
- “Trump Cannot Stay In Power By Declaring Martial Law” ([Dec. 29, 2020](https://cato.org/blog/trump-cannot-stay-power-declaring-martial-law))
- “In the Wake of the Pro‐​Trump Attack on the Capitol, Let’s Clarify What ‘Sedition’ and ‘Incitement’ Mean,” Cato Daily Podcast ([Jan. 8, 2021](https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-daily-podcast/wake-pro-trump-attack-capitol-lets-clarify-what-sedition-incitement))
- “The 2020 Election and the Capitol Insurrection,” Free Thoughts Podcast ([Jan. 28, 2021](https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/free-thoughts/2020-election-and-capitol-insurrection))
- “House Democrats Go Fox Hunting” (The Dispatch, [Feb. 24, 2021](https://cato.org/commentary/house-democrats-go-fox-hunting))
- “Redistricting In Maryland — The Tentacled Horror of Gerrymandering,” You Don’t Have To Yell podcast, [Mar. 4, 2021](https://youdonthavetoyell.libsyn.com/redistricting-in-maryland-the-tentacled-horror-of-gerrymandering))
- “Is H.R. 1 a ‘Voting Rights Bill’?” ([Mar. 5, 2021](https://cato.org/blog/hr-1-voting-rights-bill))
- “H.R. 1: The Overstuffed and the Skinny” ([Mar. 22, 2021](https://cato.org/blog/hr-1-overstuffed-skinny))
- “H.R. 1: Cracks Appear In The Coalition” ([Apr. 2, 2021](https://cato.org/blog/democracy-itself))
- “Why State Election Reform Bills Don’t Signal a New Jim Crow Era” (The Dispatch, [Apr. 5, 2021](https://cato.org/commentary/why-state-election-reform-bills-dont-signal-new-jim-crow-era))
- “H.R. 1: When Is It OK for Partisans To Control An Elections Panel?” ([Apr. 7, 2021](https://cato.org/blog/hr-1-when-it-ok-partisans-control-elections-panel))
- “How Many of H.R. 1’s Provisions Are Unconstitutional?” ([Apr. 20, 2021](https://cato.org/blog/hr-1-how-many-its-provisions-are-unconstitutional))
- “Reasons To Like Ranked‐​Choice Voting” ([May 7, 2021](https://cato.org/blog/reasons-ranked-choice-voting))
- “ ‘Partly Constitutional’ Isn’t Enough: Senate Should Reject the ‘For the People Act’ ” (National Review Online, [May 13, 2021](https://cato.org/commentary/partly-constitutional-isnt-enough-senate-should-reject-people-act)), and related Cato at Liberty blog post, [same day](https://cato.org/blog/partly-constitutional-doesnt-cut-it))
- “Congress Should Clarify The Electoral Count Act Of 1887” ([June 29, 2021](https://cato.org/blog/congress-should-clarify-electoral-count-act))
- “Protecting Our Electoral Institutions” ([The Dispatch, July 13, 2021](https://cato.org/commentary/protecting-our-electoral-institutions))
- “Getting Serious About Election Reform” ([July 19, 2021](https://cato.org/blog/getting-serious-about-election-reform))
- “Do Voter ID Laws Matter Much?” ([Aug. 16, 2021](https://cato.org/blog/do-voter-id-laws-matter-much))
- “How Ballot Measures Fared” ([Nov. 3, 2021](https://cato.org/blog/ballot-measures-2021); ranked-choice voting, other state and local election law questions)
- “Governor’s Commission Proposed Fair Maps to End Gerrymandering” (Frederick News-Post, [Nov. 13, 2021](https://cato.org/commentary/governors-commission-proposed-fair-maps-end-gerrymandering))
- “A General Thought (And a Personal Update) on Gerrymandering” ([Dec. 2, 2021](https://cato.org/blog/calculus-partisan-gerrymandering))
- “The Dos and Don’ts of Defending Democracy” ([Nov../Dec. 2021](https://cato.org/policy-report/november/december-2021/dos-donts-defending-democracy) Cato Policy Report, a longer piece)
- “In Final Weeks, Trump White House Searched For Excuses To Overturn Election Results” ([Dec. 13, 2021](https://cato.org/blog/final-weeks-outgoing-administration-searched-excuses-overturn-election-results))

The longest piece in the list happens to pull together themes and arguments found in quite a few of the others relating to election law reform as well as the aftermath of Jan. 6, 2021: it’s the one on “The Dos and Don’ts of Defending Democracy” from the recent (Nov./Dec.) [Cato Policy Report](https://cato.org/policy-report/november/december-2021/dos-donts-defending-democracy).

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