Episode 23: Rick Hasen on the Fragility of the U.S. Voting System
AI is beginning to collide with the most fragile parts of American democracy: ballots, courts, and the rules that decide who gets heard.
This week on the podcast, we speak with Rick Hasen, Professor of Law and Director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA School of Law. Together, Rick and Alex discuss why election threats are shifting, why mail-in voting remains a political battleground, and how AI-driven disinformation could make already-close races even harder to trust.
We explore the real-world risks facing 2026 and beyond, from ballot seizures and judicial intervention to executive orders aimed at reshaping how states run elections. And Rick explains why America’s hyper-decentralized election system creates both resilience and vulnerability and why the stakes rise dramatically when control of Congress depends on a handful of seats.
Rick asserts that protecting democracy isn’t just about elections. As he notes, “The truth still matters to the great center of the people who are not taken in by conspiracy theories.” We need to look at rebuilding local journalism, improving information quality, and using tools like watermarking and metadata without handing government a censorship weapon.
Join us for a timely look at how law, technology, and political power are colliding.
Topics
01:50 The Safeguarding Democracy Project
02:19 Incidents of Ballot Seizures and Threats to Elections
03:23 Risks of Ballot Seizures and Judicial Involvement
04:45 Potential Impact of Narrow Election Wins
07:41 Mail-in Ballots and Partisan Strategies
10:38 Decentralized Election System and Federal Laws
15:14 Need for a Constitutional Right to Vote
17:26 Challenges in Amending the Constitution for Voting Rights
19:55 Potential Court Packing and Judicial Politics
20:55 Reforming the Electoral College and Voting System
24:37 Disinformation, Cheap Speech, and Media Challenges
29:30 AI, Deep Fakes, and Election Misinformation
36:33 Media's Role in Democracy and Public Trust
37:58 Optimism and Future Directions for Democracy
About Professor Richard Hasen: Hasen is the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA School of Law. He is an internationally recognized expert in election law and co-author of leading casebooks in election law and remedies. Hasen served in 2022 and 2024 as an NBC News/MSNBC Election Law Analyst.
Professor Hasen was named a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow, recognizing prior career achievement and exceptional promise. He has also been named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America by The National Law Journal, and one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California by the San Francisco Daily Journal.
His op-eds and commentaries have appeared in many publications, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. Hasen also writes his own Election Law Blog. His 2022 book, Cheap Speech: How Disinformation Poisons Our Politics—and How to Cure It, was named one of the four best books on disinformation by The New York Times.
Professor Hasen holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley, and a J.D., M.A., and Ph.D. from UCLA.
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