[EL] ELB News and Commentary 8/2/11

Tue Aug 2 08:16:02 PDT 2011

 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21258> “Driehaus wins abortion billboard battles” 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21258> August 2, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

See this story <http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201108011744/NEWS0108/110801040>  on former U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus’ win over an anti-abortion group that ran ads against him that he believed to be misleading. U.S. District Judge Timothy Black’s order reportedly allows Driehaus’ defamation lawsuit against the Susan B. Anthony List to proceed.

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 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21265> Judicial Retentions Election Conference 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21265> August 2, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

The two-day conference <http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202509221504&src=EMC-Email&et=editorial&bu=National%20Law%20Journal&pt=NLJ.com-%20Daily%20Headlines&cn=20110802nlj&kw=Judicial%20retention%20elections%20on%20the%20agenda&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1>  will take place at the University of Denver on August 11-12.

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Posted in  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1> Uncategorized | Comments Off 

 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21261> Judge Silberman Acquitted of Bribery 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21261> August 2, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

The LA Times reports here <http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-judge-bribery-verdict-20110802,0,2230584.story>  on the verdict in the case, in which Judge Harvey Silberman was accused of bribery <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21106>  for allegedly offering to pay an opponent’s filing fees if she would drop out of the race.

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 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21254> California Redistricting Roundup 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21254> August 2, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

Lots of analysis of and commentary on the California Citizens Redistricting Commission plans approved Friday:  SacBee <http://www.sacbee.com/2011/08/02/3809943/remap-a-mixed-bag-for-asian-communities.html> , SF Chronicle <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/kalw/detail?entry_id=94451> , Daily News <http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_18596559> , Voice of OC <http://voiceofoc.org/countywide/article_b4b500f6-bc91-11e0-8276-001cc4c002e0.html> , Patch.com <http://eaglerock.patch.com/articles/northeast-la-redistricting-whos-in-whos-out> , CA Independent Voter Network <http://caivn.org/article/2011/08/02/consternation-ensues-redistricting-commission-releases-final-maps> , OneNewsNow <http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=1403306> , and KQED <http://blogs.kqed.org/capitalnotes/2011/08/01/competition-communities-dominate-redistricting-reactions/> .  The LA Times has this tool <http://www.latimes.com/news/la-redistricting-map-july-2011,0,3633335.htmlstory#37.42166,-119.27199999999999,6,usCongress,,,current>  for comparing the current and proposed districts.

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Posted in  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1> Uncategorized | Comments Off 

 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21246> Waterstone on AAPD v. Harris 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21246> August 2, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

The following is a guest post from Michael Waterstone <http://www.lls.edu/academics/faculty/waterstone.html> : 

Thanks to Dan and Rick for inviting me to post on the recent opinion in  <http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/ops/200715004.reh.pdf> AAPD v. Harris.  As Dan notes <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21187> , the wheels of justice have moved slowly on this case.  The original district court opinion (from 2004) is in an earlier edition of my disability law casebook <http://west.thomson.com/blanck-hill-siegal-waterstones-disability-civil-rights-law-policy-cases/147894/40752995/productdetail> .  It held that voting machines requiring voters with visual impairments to vote with third-party assistance violated Title II of the ADA.  The Eleventh Circuit previously reversed the district court, holding that plaintiffs did not have a private right of action to enforce the ADA.  This decision holds that voting machines are not a facility and therefore are not covered by one of the regulations implementing Title II of the ADA. … Continue reading  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21246> →

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Posted in  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40> voting technology | Comments Off 

 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21243> “Calif. Poised to OK Political Donations via Text” 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21243> August 1, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

The FPPC is backing the idea <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/31/MN4P1KGQML.DTL> .  Just please don’t do it while <http://www.cnbc.com/id/31545004/site/14081545>  driving <http://www.caranddriver.com/features/09q2/texting_while_driving_how_dangerous_is_it_-feature> .

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Posted in  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1> Uncategorized | Comments Off 

 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21239> Setback for Opponents of Ohio Election Law 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21239> August 1, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

Ohio AG Mike DeWine has rejected summary language <http://www.wfmj.com/story/15189393/oh-election-law-foes-fail-hurdle-in-repeal-effort>  proposed by a group seeking to overturn a recently enacted state statute that, among other things, limits the period for early voting.  The group, Fair Elections Ohio <http://www.couragepac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/FAIR-ELECTIONS-OHIO-Summary-Update.pdf> , hopes to gather 231,000 valid signatures for its referendum by September 29, to stop the law from going into effect <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=20847>  in 2012.

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Posted in  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53> absentee ballots,  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> election administration,  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=39> petition signature gathering | Comments Off 

 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21232> Americans Elect to Filter Candidates Based on Ideology 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21232> August 1, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

Richard Winger has this <http://www.ballot-access.org/2011/07/31/americans-elect-official-suggests-candidate-certification-committee-will-bar-candidates-from-nomination-process-based-on-their-political-views/>  post on Americans Elect’s intent to  “mak[e] sure we have candidates who bridge the center of American public opinion,” as its chief operating officer is quoted saying in a CSM story <http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0729/Americans-Elect-launches-centrist-third-party-bid-amid-Washington-dysfunction> .

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Posted in  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=46> ballot access | Comments Off 

 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21229> “9th Circuit Denies Rehearing in Renzi Case” 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21229> August 1, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

Legal Times has this post <http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2011/08/9th-circuit-denies-rehearing-in-rick-renzi-case.html>  on the one-page order declining to rehear the Speech or Debate Clause case en banc.  No dissents, although some predict <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=19623>  a cert grant.  You can find Rick’s post on the panel opinion here <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=19547> .

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Posted in  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=36> Speech or Debate Clause | Comments Off 

 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21225> Seventh Circuit Enjoins Contribution Limits to Super PAC 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21225> August 1, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

The court’s brief order <http://www.jamesmadisoncenter.org/cases/files/2011/08/7-Doc-14-Order-Granting-Doc-9-1.pdf>  allows Wisconsin Right to Life State PAC to receive unlimited contributions, to be used for independent expenditures in the state recall elections later this month.   It also expedites the appeal, with oral argument to take place in mid-September.

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Posted in  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> campaign finance | Comments Off 

 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21218> Chapin’s New Blog 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21218> August 1, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

Electiongeek extraordinaire Doug Chapin, formerly of Pew/electionline and now of University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School, has started a new blog <http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/peea/>  on election administration.  His inaugural post is here <http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/peea/2011/07/welcome.php> .  Welcome (back) to the blogosphere, Doug!

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Posted in  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> election administration,  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51> election law biz | Comments Off 

 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21216> New NY Redistricting Blog 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21216> August 1, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

Common Cause New York has started <http://www.citizenredistrictny.org/2011/07/introducing-the-mapping-democracy-blog/>  the Mapping Democracy Blog <http://www.citizensredistrictny.org/blog/> , to track redistricting developments in the state.

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Posted in  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6> redistricting | Comments Off 

 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21214> “Wall Street Continues to Spend Big on Lobbying” 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21214> August 1, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

NYT’s Dealbook reports here <http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/wall-street-continues-to-spend-big-on-lobbying/> .

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Posted in  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28> lobbying | Comments Off 

 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21212> Suspicious Absentee Ballot Mailers in WI 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21212> August 1, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

Politico has this report <http://www.politico.com/blogs/davidcatanese/0811/AFP_Wisconsin_ballots_have_late_return_date.html?showall>  and TPM this post <http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/08/koch-group-mails-suspicious-absentee-ballot-letters-in-wisconsin.php?ref=fpblg>  alleging that the conservative group Americans for Prosperity Wisconsin is sending out <http://www.politico.com/static/PPM187_ballotapp.html>  absentee ballot applications with instructions to return the ballot “before August 11.”  The problem?  They’ve allegedly been sent to Democratic voters in places where the recall election of Republican state senators will take place August 9.   Also, according to TPM, the return envelope address is one that’s been used by conservative group Wisconsin Family Action.  This sounds like too clumsy a voter deception scheme to be true.

Update:  The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board has issued this warning <http://gab.wi.gov/node/1994>  about unofficial absentee voter applications.

Update 2:  The Wisconsin Democratic Party is reportedly planning to file a complaint <http://www.politico.com/blogs/davidcatanese/0811/Wisc_Dems_accuse_AFP_of_election_tampering_.html>  against AFP with the GAB.

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Posted in  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12> chicanery | Comments Off 

 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21208> Best Wishes to Paul Gronke 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21208> August 1, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

My friend and ELJ co-editor Paul Gronke has shattered a vertabrae, doing things no 50-year old should do while whitewater rafting on the McKenzie River.  He nevertheless seems to be in good spirits, writing that “TSA body pat downs may be in my future.”  If you’re one of his many Facebook friends, you can send your wishes for a speedy recovery there.  If not, I’m happy to pass them along — I don’t want to be responsible for his inbox overflowing when he wakes up from surgery!

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 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21201> GOP Files Complaint over Possible Coordination Between WI Recall Candidate and Outside Group 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21201> August 1, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

The Fox Point-Bayside Patch reports here <http://foxpoint.patch.com/articles/gop-files-complaint-over-possible-collusion-between-pasch-and-special-interest-group>  on the complaint <http://foxpoint.patch.com/articles/gop-files-complaint-over-possible-collusion-between-pasch-and-special-interest-group#pdf-7221013>  asking that the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board investigate whether there’s been unlawful coordination between Democrat Sandi Pasch and Citizen Action of Wisconsin, on whose board she sits.

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Posted in  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> campaign finance | Comments Off 

 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21196> “Super PACs raise a combined $26 million in first half of year” 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21196> August 1, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

Sunlight Foundation’s blog has this post <http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/2011/super-pacs-raise-combined-26-million-first-half-year/> .

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Posted in  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> campaign finance | Comments Off 

 <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21187> 11th Circuit Says Voting Machines Aren’t “Facilities” Protected by ADA Regs 

Posted on  <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=21187> August 1, 2011 by  <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5> Dan Tokaji 

An 11th Circuit panel has issued this opinion <http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/ops/200715004.reh.pdf>  in AAPD v. Harris – yes, that’s Katherine Harris – an almost ten-year old case alleging that Florida’s voting machines aren’t sufficiently accessible to people with disabilities.  In so doing, the panel withdrew an opinion issued last year <http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/ops/200715004.pdf> , which rejected plaintiffs’ claim on the ground that they lacked a private right of action to enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act regulations.  (I’ve discussed the thorny question of when election-related federal laws are privately enforceable in this article <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1648998> .)

The new opinion, written by Judge Tjoflat after a petition for rehearing, reaches the same result for an entirely different reason.   The panel abandons the private-right-of-action rationale, instead holding that voting machines aren’t a facility and therefore aren’t covered by the regulation implementing Title II of the ADA, the basis for the only remaining claim.  The opinion reasons:  “[T]he ‘facilities’ at issue in [the regulation] are permanent, physical structures, and those objects affixed to that physical structure. Voting machines, which are wheeled into—and out of—voting precincts on election day, do not fall under this umbrella.” 

I’m curious about ADA experts’ views on the Eleventh Circuit’s reasoning or its significance for future voting access cases.

Update:  Doug Chapin has more in this post <http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/peea/2011/08/new_federal_case_says_voting_m.php> .

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Posted in  <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40> voting technology | Comments Off 

Daniel Tokaji | Professor of Law

The Ohio State University | Moritz College of Law

55 W. 12th Ave. | Columbus, OH 43210

614.292.6566 | tokaji.1 at osu.edu 

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