Hans von Spakovsky, Author at Committee to Support and Defend

About Hans von Spakovsky

Hans von Spakovsky is recognized as one of the nation’s leading experts on elections and election reform. He is manager of the Heritage Foundation’s Election Law Reform Initiative and a senior legal fellow in Heritage’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. He is the co-author with John Fund of the book “Who’s Counting?: How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk” (Encounter Books, 2012). Before joining Heritage in 2008, Mr. von Spakovsky served two years as a member of the Federal Election Commission, the authority charged with enforcing campaign finance laws for congressional and presidential elections, including public funding. He has served on the Board of Advisors of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and on the Fulton County (Ga.) Board of Registrations and Elections. He is a former vice chairman of the Fairfax County (Va.) Electoral Board and a former member of the Virginia Advisory Board to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. A 1984 graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Law, Mr. von Spakovsky received his B.S. degree in 1981 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Von Spakovsky: The Latest Election Data Show—Once Again—That “Voter Suppression” Claim Is Just Propaganda

Numerous studies and turnout data from states that have improved the security of their election process through commonsense reforms have shown that making integrity a primary goal of the laws and regulations governing the election process does not “suppress” votes. In fact, it seems to increase voter confidence in elections, which in turn can help to increase turnout. As the U.S. Supreme Court said in 2008 when it found Indiana’s voter ID law to be constitutional and not to be a burden on voters, maintaining “public confidence in the integrity of the electoral process has independent significance, because it encourages citizen participation in the democratic process.”

By Hans von Spakovsky|2023-04-19T15:37:25-04:00April 19, 2023|ACRU Commentary, Elections, OPED|

Von Spakovsky: Stanford Law School—EXPOSED

On March 20, my friend and former Justice Department colleague J. Christian Adams published the first article in our series of exposés, “Do They Teach Law?” We examine what’s actually being taught at the top 10 law schools, as ranked by U.S. News and World Report.

By Hans von Spakovsky|2023-03-30T17:47:35-04:00March 30, 2023|ACRU Commentary, OPED|

Forget Open Borders. This Crazy Law Opens Voting Booths to Aliens

The cherry blossoms aren’t the only things blooming early this year in Washington. Radical ideas have been blossoming in the D.C. City Council, too—ideas that will both disenfranchise and endanger the city’s citizens.

By Hans von Spakovsky|2023-03-17T09:46:58-04:00March 17, 2023|ACRU Commentary, Elections, OPED|

Angry Federal Judge Orders Biden’s DHS: End Mass Parole of Illegal Aliens

In a scathing opinion on Wednesday that questions the credibility of the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. District Court Judge T. Kent Wetherell II for the Northern District of Florida has ordered a stop to the Biden administration’s “Parole Plus Alternatives to Detention” (“Parole+ATD”) policy that has been illegally releasing hundreds of thousands of aliens into the U.S., concluding that it violates the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs rulemaking by federal agencies.

By Hans von Spakovsky|2023-03-16T09:50:30-04:00March 16, 2023|ABW OpEd, OPED|

Von Spakovsky: DHS Flouts Law on Student Visas, and DC Circuit Judges Yawn

For yet another exampansle of how out-of-control federal bureaucrats think they can stretch the law beyond recognition to meet their policy preferences, look no further than a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The F-1 student visa program that allows foreigners to enter the country and study at American universities is the center of the case, Washington Alliance of Technology Workers v. Department of Homeland Security.

By Hans von Spakovsky|2023-03-05T14:12:50-05:00March 5, 2023|ACRU Commentary, OPED|

Von Spakovsky: Impeaching Mayorkas Is a Must, He Violated His Oath and Committed “High Crimes and Misdemeanors”

Mayorkas has violated his oath of office by repeatedly violating the laws he swore faithfully to enforce. He has abused the powers of his office through reckless conduct that threatens the sovereignty of the U.S. and risks the safety and security of the American people and the law enforcement personnel of the Department of Homeland Security. And he has betrayed the public trust by repeatedly making false statements to Congress and misleading the public about the nature and effects of his misconduct.

By Hans von Spakovsky|2023-03-05T14:12:54-05:00February 17, 2023|ACRU Commentary, OPED|

Von Spakovsky: Another Study Refutes Left’s False Claims Against Secure Elections

Trust the science, we’ve all been told. Well, the science has spoken again: Voter ID laws aren’t discriminatory and don’t suppress anyone’s vote.

By Hans von Spakovsky|2023-03-05T14:12:55-05:00February 13, 2023|ACRU Commentary, Elections, OPED, Voter ID|

Von Spakovsky: ‘Conservatives Need Not Apply’ Under Proposed Team Biden Hiring Rules

In a move that has gotten little notice in the press, the Biden administration is proposing federal hiring rules that easily could be abused to deny employment to anyone who questions liberal, woke policies, criticizes the government, or belongs to a politically incorrect organization.

By Hans von Spakovsky|2023-03-05T14:12:55-05:00February 13, 2023|ACRU Commentary, First Amendment, OPED|

Von Spakovsky: White House “Cleansing” of El Paso Akin to 1936 Berlin Olympics

Some have compared the cleansing in El Paso, Texas, before President Biden’s border visit to the fake villages that Grigory Potemkin is said to have set up along a route traveled by Catherine the Great. Those fake villages were intended to fool Catherine by hiding the truly horrible conditions. The more apt comparison is to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, which, like what happened in El Paso with the full knowledge of the president and his advisers, was designed to fool the public.

By Hans von Spakovsky|2023-03-05T14:12:56-05:00February 7, 2023|ACRU Commentary, OPED|

Von Spakovsky: Georgia Voters Show Just How Wrong Biden and His Sycophants Are

Here is the question: When will President Joe Biden, failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert Manfred, and other denizens of the Left apologize to Georgia’s legislators, governor, and other residents? The answer is probably “Never,” despite the latest evidence of just how wrong they’ve been about Georgia’s commonsense election reforms in their outrageous claims about the state.

By Hans von Spakovsky|2023-03-05T14:12:56-05:00February 7, 2023|ACRU Commentary, Elections, OPED|

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About Hans von Spakovsky

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