Mike on the Mic
@mlatner.bsky.social
Mike Latner
Director of Research on Democratic Reform
Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, Harvard Law School
Political Science Dept @CalPoly
Engineering fair electoral systems. And tacos.
E pluribus unum 🇺🇸
Director of Research on Democratic Reform
Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, Harvard Law School
Political Science Dept @CalPoly
Engineering fair electoral systems. And tacos.
E pluribus unum 🇺🇸
Michael Latner (@mikelatner)
substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Reposted by Mike on the Mic
A good summary of why Cornell's capitulation to authoritarian extortion is an affront to democracy and academic freedom. aaup-cornell.org/2025/11/07/s...
November 8, 2025 at 2:33 PM
A good summary of why Cornell's capitulation to authoritarian extortion is an affront to democracy and academic freedom. aaup-cornell.org/2025/11/07/s...
Callais arguments didn’t go well, as expected. Listening to the solicitor and LA counsel was like watching the dog poop throwing scene from Parks and Rec.
October 15, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Callais arguments didn’t go well, as expected. Listening to the solicitor and LA counsel was like watching the dog poop throwing scene from Parks and Rec.
Saturday really came through, nice work Saturday! You are my favorite.
October 5, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Saturday really came through, nice work Saturday! You are my favorite.
Reposted by Mike on the Mic
for Oakland residents: what’s being done in your county
A widespread data-sharing program with ICE supports local and state budgets nationwide—even in so-called sanctuary cities and states that forbid certain law enforcement cooperation and information sharing with ICE.
This Bay Area County Says It Cut Ties with ICE. This Program Says Otherwise.
A widespread data-sharing program highlights financial ties between local police and immigration enforcement—and how even sanctuary jurisdictions still feed “the deportation machine.”
boltsmag.org
September 1, 2025 at 10:52 PM
for Oakland residents: what’s being done in your county
Had a great chat @scholars.org on the gerrymandering arms race now underway, how we got here, and what we can do to fix this dysfunctional system.
As Texas and California move to redraw their Congressional maps, Prof @mlatner.bsky.social (Cal Poly & @hls.harvard.edu ) breaks down in this ep. why unfair maps weaken voters’ voices and what today’s gerrymandering fights mean for American democracy.
🎧 Listen now: scholars.org/podcast/how-...
🎧 Listen now: scholars.org/podcast/how-...
August 27, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Had a great chat @scholars.org on the gerrymandering arms race now underway, how we got here, and what we can do to fix this dysfunctional system.
Why suppress votes when you can just steal seats?
Don’t look away: Texas’ Tarrant County, Home to Fort Worth, Cuts Over 100 Polling Sites as Trump Attacks Mail-In Voting Nationally, by @fortworthreport.bsky.social
A Texas County Cuts Over 100 Polling Sites as Trump Attacks Mail-In Voting Nationally
The decision by commissioners in Tarrant County, which includes Fort Worth, comes amid growing concern about GOP efforts to limit voting access ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
www.propublica.org
August 21, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Why suppress votes when you can just steal seats?
Reposted by Mike on the Mic
Reposted by Mike on the Mic
A growing number of GOP-led states are restricting student voting access, from banning campus polling places to making it harder to prove residency. Earlier this yar, Indiana banned student IDs for voting. boltsmag.org/indiana-bann...
Indiana Republicans Are Banning Student IDs for Voting - Bolts
The new restriction, paired with Indiana’s stringent voter ID rules, would make it much harder for many young people to vote in a state that already ranks near-last in turnout.
boltsmag.org
August 20, 2025 at 12:08 AM
A growing number of GOP-led states are restricting student voting access, from banning campus polling places to making it harder to prove residency. Earlier this yar, Indiana banned student IDs for voting. boltsmag.org/indiana-bann...
Reposted by Mike on the Mic
Updated blog post here
If we replicate using voter validated weights, Harris still wins among nonvoters
If we assume ppl unmatched to voter file are nonvoters and use commonweight, Trump wins nonvoters
data4democracy.substack.com/p/did-non-vo...
If we replicate using voter validated weights, Harris still wins among nonvoters
If we assume ppl unmatched to voter file are nonvoters and use commonweight, Trump wins nonvoters
data4democracy.substack.com/p/did-non-vo...
August 19, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Updated blog post here
If we replicate using voter validated weights, Harris still wins among nonvoters
If we assume ppl unmatched to voter file are nonvoters and use commonweight, Trump wins nonvoters
data4democracy.substack.com/p/did-non-vo...
If we replicate using voter validated weights, Harris still wins among nonvoters
If we assume ppl unmatched to voter file are nonvoters and use commonweight, Trump wins nonvoters
data4democracy.substack.com/p/did-non-vo...
Reposted by Mike on the Mic
The recent DOE climate science report misrepresents the work of many researchers. Carbon Brief asked those cited to review the parts of the report where their work was used, and we collectively found 100+ misleading or false statements: interactive.carbonbr...
August 14, 2025 at 4:40 PM
The recent DOE climate science report misrepresents the work of many researchers. Carbon Brief asked those cited to review the parts of the report where their work was used, and we collectively found 100+ misleading or false statements: interactive.carbonbr...
Really important questions raised by @justinlevitt.bsky.social
Voters need a clear message about what they are authorizing.
Then buy the ticket, take the ride.
Voters need a clear message about what they are authorizing.
Then buy the ticket, take the ride.
Looks like mid-decade redistricting's going to be in the water in California next week. * sigh *
A lot of devils in those still TBD details.
A lot of devils in those still TBD details.
The TBD details on California's redistricting special election #ELB
Justin here. Today, California Gov. Newsom announced what he’d been foreshadowing for a while now — an effort to seek voters’ approval for new congressional district lines in a Nov. 4 special election...
electionlawblog.org
August 14, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Really important questions raised by @justinlevitt.bsky.social
Voters need a clear message about what they are authorizing.
Then buy the ticket, take the ride.
Voters need a clear message about what they are authorizing.
Then buy the ticket, take the ride.
Heavily armed used car salesmen ready to kill anyone who makes them feel uncomfortable.
#FucktheRedeemers
#FucktheRedeemers
Border Patrol agents assembled outside a Los Angeles museum where Gov. Gavin Newsom was holding a rally and news conference on congressional redistricting. Local elected officials expressed outrage that the agents decided to stand there in a brazen show of force. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/14/u...
August 14, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Heavily armed used car salesmen ready to kill anyone who makes them feel uncomfortable.
#FucktheRedeemers
#FucktheRedeemers
FL Court trouncing both the VRA and their own voters who supported a fair maps initiative in 2010, which worked in that redistricting cycle.
Florida's Supreme Court has upheld the GOP's congressional gerrymander, which may have cost Dems 3 seats & a House majority in 2024.
Voters passed a 2010 amendment that explicitly banned partisan & racial gerrymandering. The court enforced it in 2015, but DeSantis appointees now dominate the court
Voters passed a 2010 amendment that explicitly banned partisan & racial gerrymandering. The court enforced it in 2015, but DeSantis appointees now dominate the court
supremecourt.flcourts.gov
July 17, 2025 at 9:04 PM
FL Court trouncing both the VRA and their own voters who supported a fair maps initiative in 2010, which worked in that redistricting cycle.
Reposted by Mike on the Mic
4 U.S. citizen children, with their mother, held in a detention facility for 2 WEEKS. Denied access to lawyers and even communication with family.
Disappeared. Held Incommunicado. No charges have been filed.
Disappeared. Held Incommunicado. No charges have been filed.
July 13, 2025 at 4:04 AM
4 U.S. citizen children, with their mother, held in a detention facility for 2 WEEKS. Denied access to lawyers and even communication with family.
Disappeared. Held Incommunicado. No charges have been filed.
Disappeared. Held Incommunicado. No charges have been filed.
Reposted by Mike on the Mic
23 years ago, a groundswell of outrage from Republicans, including a GOP president, led Republican Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi to resign after praising a segregationist on his birthday.
Today, a Republican calls a colleague a "Muslim terrorist"—and every Republican silent.
Today, a Republican calls a colleague a "Muslim terrorist"—and every Republican silent.
Editor’s Note | Blatant Racism Used to Have Consequences
Allowing racism to fester while only condemning the most obvious examples has brought us to where we are now, Ashton Pittman writes.
www.mississippifreepress.org
July 12, 2025 at 4:41 AM
23 years ago, a groundswell of outrage from Republicans, including a GOP president, led Republican Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi to resign after praising a segregationist on his birthday.
Today, a Republican calls a colleague a "Muslim terrorist"—and every Republican silent.
Today, a Republican calls a colleague a "Muslim terrorist"—and every Republican silent.
Reposted by Mike on the Mic
The retaliatory firing today of over 100 EPA employees who stood up for scientific integrity — it’s shocking.
But it’s also July 3. So this won’t even get on people’s radar.
But it’s also July 3. So this won’t even get on people’s radar.
July 3, 2025 at 7:35 PM
The retaliatory firing today of over 100 EPA employees who stood up for scientific integrity — it’s shocking.
But it’s also July 3. So this won’t even get on people’s radar.
But it’s also July 3. So this won’t even get on people’s radar.
Reposted by Mike on the Mic
Today I am on the hunt for ways to help. Message me if you have suggestions! The family wants to stay together (mother, father, baby). Their stuff is still in the apartment. They’d like to negotiate w/ the landlord to stay if possible. They need housing & a lawyer. This is in Jamaica, Queens (NYC).
July 3, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Today I am on the hunt for ways to help. Message me if you have suggestions! The family wants to stay together (mother, father, baby). Their stuff is still in the apartment. They’d like to negotiate w/ the landlord to stay if possible. They need housing & a lawyer. This is in Jamaica, Queens (NYC).
It is increasingly clear that we are at the end of an era, and those committed to political equality and democracy need to build a shared vision of electoral system reform for the next era. We are on borrowed time.
Justice Thomas has a solo dissent from the holding over of the Louisiana racial gerrymandering case for re-argument next term, saying that it is time to overturn the Section 2 framework.
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
June 27, 2025 at 4:50 PM
It is increasingly clear that we are at the end of an era, and those committed to political equality and democracy need to build a shared vision of electoral system reform for the next era. We are on borrowed time.
Thanks to the folks @lseusablog.bsky.social for having me on to chat about democracy, my favorite subject!
blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/20...
blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/20...
blogs.lse.ac.uk
May 6, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Thanks to the folks @lseusablog.bsky.social for having me on to chat about democracy, my favorite subject!
blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/20...
blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/20...
"Donald Trump’s appointees at the Department of Justice have removed all of the senior civil servants working as managers in the department’s voting section and directed attorneys to dismiss all active cases..."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Trump’s justice department appointees remove leadership of voting unit
Section is responsible for enforcing laws designed to prevent voter discrimination, raised alarm about voting rights enforcement
www.theguardian.com
April 28, 2025 at 3:36 PM
"Donald Trump’s appointees at the Department of Justice have removed all of the senior civil servants working as managers in the department’s voting section and directed attorneys to dismiss all active cases..."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Mike on the Mic
I'll be totally honest. At 3am on Saturday, my heart sank as I combed through my spreadsheet and discovered wrongly listed "never residents." I've barely slept since and didn't think my reporting would make any difference. At least for now, it has. #ncpol
andersonalerts.substack.com/p/ncsbe-give...
andersonalerts.substack.com/p/ncsbe-give...
Wrongly labeled 'never residents' must have votes counted, state elections officials conclude
Citing reporting from Anderson Alerts in partnership with The Assembly and Popular Information, several voters wrongly labeled as "never residents" will have their ballots counted.
andersonalerts.substack.com
April 16, 2025 at 5:04 AM
I'll be totally honest. At 3am on Saturday, my heart sank as I combed through my spreadsheet and discovered wrongly listed "never residents." I've barely slept since and didn't think my reporting would make any difference. At least for now, it has. #ncpol
andersonalerts.substack.com/p/ncsbe-give...
andersonalerts.substack.com/p/ncsbe-give...