What is the state of campaign financing in the U.S.? How have things changed in the Citizens United era? Is the Federal Election Commission dysfunctional, and if so do personalities or ideology explain the spate of high profile Commission deadlocks?

On Episode 7 of the ELB Podcast, we talk to Federal Election Commissioner Ellen Weintraub.

Can the Supreme Court handle social science evidence in election law cases? Will lack of good data determine the outcome of the Supreme Court's upcoming one person, one vote decision in Evenwel v. Abbott? What role will and should evidence play in assessing questions such as the constitutionality of McCain-Feingold's soft money ban or Texas's strict voter identification law.

On Episode 6 of the ELB Podcast, we talk to law professor and political scientist Nate Persily of Stanford Law School, one of the country’s leading redistricting and election law experts.

What is the state of Latino voting rights in the state of Texas and beyond? What's happening with the never-ending redistricting litigation in San Antonio, raising questions about whether Texas discriminated against Latino voters and others? Has the demise of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act thanks to the Supreme Court's 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder hurt minority voters?

On Episode 5 of the ELB Podcast, we talk to Nina Perales, vice president of litigation for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and one of the country's leading voting rights lawyers.

Have efforts to reform the American political system backfired? Do changes in rules for campaign financing, redistricting, government transparency and election administration have unintended and undesirable consequences? On this special Episode 4 of the ELB Podcast, we hear from Bruce Cain, author of the terrific new book, Democracy, More or Less, and four scholars offering critiques of Cain's book. Listen to a September 2015 panel on Cain's new book at the American Political Science Association's annual meeting in San Francisco.

Larry Lessig for president? The campaign finance reformer considers throwing his hat in the ring and proposes being president only long enough to pass a package of election reforms. What does Lessig believe about campaign finance? What other changes would he make in how we run our elections? Is his campaign strategy sound, given other reformers who have blasted his tactics?

Larry Lessig joins us for a frank conversation about Lessig for President. Larry Lessig: Bold Campaign Reformer or Don Quixote?

In Episode 2, we talk with leading First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams about the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, free speech, democracy and the academy.

The ELB Podcast: Episode 1

Interview with Ari Berman, author of Give Us the Ballot

by Rick Hasen of the Election Law Blog