[EL] ELB News and Commentary 8/6/12

Mon Aug 6 08:23:34 PDT 2012

Great piece, rick

Jerry H. Goldfeder
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP
180 Maiden Lane
New York, NY 10038
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917-680-3132   (cell)
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jgoldfeder at stroock.com
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From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Rick Hasen
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2012 11:15 AM
To: law-election at uci.edu
Subject: [EL] ELB News and Commentary 8/6/12

"A Detente Before the Election"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38166>
Posted on August 6, 2012 8:11 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38166> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I have written this oped <http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/a-dtente-before-the-election/?ref=opinion> for today's New York Times.  It begins:

Does voter fraud sometimes happen in the United States? You bet.  But we are dealing with this relatively small problem in an irrational and partisan way.

In a 1996 primary<http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-11th-circuit/1374910.html> in Dodge County, Ga., rival camps for county commissioner set up tables at opposite ends of the county courthouse and bid for voters' absentee votes in what a county magistrate later called a "flea market" atmosphere.

Recently, officials<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/07/cudahy-corruption-election-fraud.html> in Cudahy, Calif., admitted intercepting absentee ballots and throwing out ballots not cast for incumbents. Every year we see convictions for absentee ballot fraud. Not a lot, but enough to know it's a problem.

So you might think that Republicans, newly obsessed with voter fraud, would call for eliminating absentee ballots, or at least requiring that voters who use them show some need, like a medical condition. But Republicans don't talk much about reining in absentee ballots. Eliminating them would inconvenience some voters and would likely cut back on voting by loyal Republican voters, especially elderly and military voters.

If only Republicans would apply that same logic to voter-identification laws.

Another snippet:

While Republicans have been more to blame than Democrats, partisanship runs both ways. Democrats reflexively oppose efforts to deal with ineligible voters casting ballots, likely out of fear that the new requirements will make it harder for casual voters supporting Democrats to cast a ballot. They have adamantly opposed the efforts of Florida and other states<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/us/politics/us-to-let-florida-use-homeland-security-data-for-voter-check.html> where Republican election officials want to remove noncitizens from the voting rolls. Noncitizen voting is a real, if small<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=10253>, problem: a Congressional investigation found that some noncitizens voted<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/keyraces98/stories/cahouse020598.htm> in the close 1996 House race in California between Robert K. Dornan, a Republican, and Loretta Sanchez, a Democrat, but not enough<http://articles.latimes.com/1997-05-11/news/mn-57795_1_indiana-vote> to affect the outcome. Unlike impersonation fraud, noncitizen voting cannot be dismissed as a Republican fantasy.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9> | Comments Off
"Outside Cash in Missouri Race Could Be a National Model"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38163>
Posted on August 6, 2012 8:06 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38163> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Must-read <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/06/us/politics/in-missouri-senate-race-ads-beset-incumbent-democrat.html?_r=1&smid=pl-share> NYT report.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | Comments Off
"Voting time a partisan battle; Urban areas cut hours as GOP-leaning counties add"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38160>
Posted on August 6, 2012 8:04 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38160> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The latest<http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201208052259/NEWS0106/308050053> from Ohio.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=31> | Comments Off
"Virginia Board Meeting on Voter Mailers"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38158>
Posted on August 6, 2012 8:02 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38158> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

See here<http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/news/2012/aug/06/tdmet01-va-board-to-meet-on-voter-mailings-ar-2110799/>.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9> | Comments Off
"Congress Has 13 Work Days Until Election for Must-Do Work"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38156>
Posted on August 6, 2012 8:01 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38156> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Bloomberg reports<http://bloom.bg/Q0Yl4H>.
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Posted in legislation and legislatures<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27> | Comments Off
"In Ohio and elsewhere, battles over state voting laws head to court"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38154>
Posted on August 6, 2012 7:56 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38154> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Must-read<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-ohio-and-elsewhere-battles-over-state-voting-laws-head-to-court/2012/08/05/a56b8ad6-dc19-11e1-8e43-4a3c4375504a_story.html?hpid=z4> WaPo report.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9> | Comments Off
"Nancy Cassis Hopes Voters Are Ready to Write (Her In)"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38151>
Posted on August 6, 2012 7:54 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38151> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Roll Call reports<http://www.rollcall.com/issues/58_17/Cassis-Hopes-Votera-Ar-Ready-to-Write-Her-In-216741-1.html?pos=htmbtxt>.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1> | Comments Off
Absolutely Outrageous Attorney Fee Award Against Richard Winger and Other Top Two Opponents in California<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38148>
Posted on August 6, 2012 7:52 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38148> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The indispensable Richard Winger of Ballot Access News<http://www.ballot-access.org/> and a few other plaintiffs have been hit<http://www.nbcbayarea.com/blogs/prop-zero/The-Cost-of-Taking-on-California-Reformers-164917176.html> with attorneys fees<http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/news/200/wingermungerloserpays08052012/> for bringing a lawsuit in state court challenging aspects of California's top two primary.

I am on the opposite side of Richard on the merits of these suits, but this attorney fee award against plaintiffs suing to vindicate constitutional rights is absolutely outrageous. Such fees should be available only when an action is either frivolous or brought in bad faith.  This lawsuit was neither.

I hope and expect either the trial judge will reconsider or the California Court of Appeal will reverse.  This is nonsense.

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Posted in ballot access<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=46> | Comments Off
"Voter ID questions continue"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38146>
Posted on August 6, 2012 7:48 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38146> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Kansas City Kansan reports<http://www.kckansan.com/2012/08/voter-id-questions-continue.html>.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9> | Comments Off
"Romney Fundraising Tops $100 Million Again"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38143>
Posted on August 6, 2012 7:42 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38143> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WSJ reports<http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/08/06/romney-fundraising-tops-100-million-again/>.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | Comments Off
"The Hunted Democrat: Super-PAC money cut his lead in half. Why Sherrod Brown is running scared. "<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38141>
Posted on August 6, 2012 7:42 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38141> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Newsweek reports<http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/08/05/how-super-pacs-cut-sherrod-brown-s-lead-in-half.html>.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | Comments Off
"Outcome of ID-law challenge hard to predict"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38138>
Posted on August 6, 2012 7:38 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38138> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.<http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/state/20120806_Outcome_of_ID-law_challenge_hard_to_predict.html>

Unfortunately, the article does not make clear a fundamental point I tried to explain to the reporter: Crawford, the U.S. Supreme Court case, was a challenge under the U.S. Constitution.  The Pa. case, like the Wisconsin and Missouri cases, are cases under state constitutions.  State constitutional provisions guaranteeing the right to vote may be stronger (or read differently) than the U.S. constitutional standard in Crawford under the federal equal protection clause.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9> | Comments Off
"Absentee ballot fraud made easy in Miami-Dade"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38135>
Posted on August 5, 2012 4:09 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38135> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Marc Caputo<http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/05/v-fullstory/2934181/absentee-ballot-fraud-made-easy.html> (Miami Herald):

Psst!

Wanna commit absentee-ballot fraud?

Well, all you need is a computer, a telephone and a dummy address. Armed with that, there's a good chance you can request and vote another person's absentee ballot.

It's a felony. It's not a guaranteed method to cast a fraudulent vote that counts. And it's unlikely it could happen in big enough numbers to change an election.

But chances are you won't get caught because it can be done anonymously.

You can thank the Republican-led Legislature for all that.

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Posted in absentee ballots<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>, election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9> | Comments Off
"Every Four Years, Man of the Hour"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38132>
Posted on August 5, 2012 4:01 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38132> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/fashion/expert-on-vice-presidents-much-in-demand.html?pagewanted=1&smid=tw-share>:

JOEL K. GOLDSTEIN, a law professor at St. Louis University, is a leading authority on the United States vice presidency. People seem to respect him anyway. ...

Another inclination I had when I heard about Mr. Goldstein (and I'm not proud of this) was to be a wiseguy.

"So, what does a vice-presidential scholar do all day?" I asked when I reached him at his office, no doubt cluttered with the letters of Garret Augustus Hobart. "Do you wait around in case something happens to a presidential scholar?

"Do you consider yourself a heartbeat away from presidential scholarship?

"Do presidential scholars send you to the funerals of foreign presidential scholars?"
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Posted in election law "humor"<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=52>, pedagogy<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=23> | Comments Off
"Axelrod: Military Voters Should Get Special Consideration In Voting"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38129>
Posted on August 5, 2012 3:52 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38129> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

BuzzFeed<http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/axelrod-military-voters-should-get-special-consid>: "Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod gave voice to a careful walk-back by the Obama campaign over its challenge to an Ohio early voting law....In their initial filing, the Obama campaign argued that it was arbitrary for military voters to be able to submit ballots during the three-day period but not non-military voters. But now they appear to be shifting their defense of the lawsuit, telling BuzzFeed that what is arbitrary is not the difference between military voters and ordinary civilians, but that the Ohio voters could vote in the three-day period before the election in 2008 but cannot in 2012."

If that's the argument, what's the relevance of the military voter period?
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, military voting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=48>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off
--
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
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949.824.0495 - fax
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http://electionlawblog.org
Now available: The Voting Wars: http://amzn.to/y22ZTv

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