Hans von Spakovsky

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: Liberal Hypocrites Are Destroying Women’s Sports

It’s becoming harder and harder for high school and college girls to compete against other females without intrusion by transgender-identified males. To see just how far we have fallen in refusing to recognize the fundamental injustice of allowing these males to compete against biological females, consider some historic scandals in the Olympic Games.

By |2023-10-14T19:42:50+00:00October 12th, 2023|

A federal court just handed Biden’s Ministry of Truth a big defeat

In a landmark decision that should have all Americans cheering, a Louisiana federal court recently upheld their First Amendment right to speak without being censored by the government. Judge Terry Doughty said the case, Missouri v. Biden, "arguably involves the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history."

By |2023-10-14T19:43:06+00:00July 19th, 2023|

Election Integrity: One Illegal Vote Can Change an Election

Most people in the media don’t want you to believe that election crimes are committed. They say it is easier to find Bigfoot. But election crimes are not a myth, and The Heritage Foundation has been systematically documenting them for years. When those who deny the crimes occur are forced to confront the data, the response sometimes shifts to “It doesn’t matter anyway.” After all, does it really matter if a single vote is improperly or criminally cast?

By |2023-10-14T19:43:07+00:00July 13th, 2023|

The Supreme Court’s Ruling on Race-Based Redistricting Is a Real Head-Scratcher

Chief Justice John Roberts made a major error in judgment last week in rejecting the State of Alabama’s 2022 congressional redistricting plan in Allen v. Milligan, an error that, as dissenting Justice Samuel Alito says, puts the Voting Rights Act “on a perilous and unfortunate path.”

By |2023-10-14T19:43:13+00:00June 22nd, 2023|

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 |2023-04-19T19:37:25+00:00April 19th, 2023|

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 |2023-03-30T21:47:35+00:00March 30th, 2023|

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 |2023-03-17T13:46:58+00:00March 17th, 2023|

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 |2023-03-16T13:50:30+00:00March 16th, 2023|

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 |2023-03-05T19:51:59+00:00March 5th, 2023|

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 |2023-03-05T19:52:04+00:00February 17th, 2023|
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