[EL] ELB News and Commentary 8/25/12

Fri Aug 24 21:11:14 PDT 2012

    "Election observers proliferate at polls"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39090>

Posted on August 24, 2012 9:08 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39090> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

This News21 story 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/election-observers-proliferate-at-polls/2012/08/24/1452c3ba-ed4f-11e1-a80b-9f898562d010_story.html> 
about True the Vote appears at WaPo.

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Posted in The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | 
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    Closing the Loop <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39086>

Posted on August 24, 2012 8:55 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39086> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Pardon this silliness, but I need to clear the air.

Earlier this week I posted <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38895>about a 
couple of statements on Christian Adams' blog in which he falsely 
indicated that I had "refused" an offer to debate Fund and von Spakovsky 
about allegations in their book.  I explained that I never received such 
an offer much less refused to debate.

Afterwards I had a nasty Twitter exchange with Adams in which he pushed 
me to check with the press as to whether an offer to debate was 
communicated to me.  (This strikes me as totally beside the point as to 
the false statement about the refusal.)  I confirmed with Yale Press 
that no offer of a debate was communicated.  John Fund wrote to me that 
he had no idea where the allegation came from.

I demanded a retraction. I also tried to post a response on Adams' blog 
explaining that there had been no offer communicated to the Press and no 
refusal by me.

This led to two Twitter posts from Adams. First, 
<https://twitter.com/ElectionLawCtr/status/239198826991337472> "What 
part of "there will be no retraction" don't you understand. I reported 
what I was told. Period."  [In other words, I take no responsibility if 
I repeat false hearsay.]

Second <https://twitter.com/ElectionLawCtr/status/239199067354324992>, 
"Guess what. My blog. Not yours. You dont even open your posts to 
comment. Turn off the urge to control other people's blogs." [So this 
leaves on his blog the false impression that I never responded to his 
query about whether my publisher was approached about a debate.]

And with this, I'm done trying to have a rational conversation with Mr. 
Adams.  And of boring my blog readers with this nonsense.

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

    "Making Employees Do Campaign Work Does Not Break Law, FEC
    Republicans Say" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39083>

Posted on August 24, 2012 6:38 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39083> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WOW 
<http://news.bna.com/mpdm/MPDMWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=27694789&vname=mpebulallissues&jd=a0d4g2y8d9&split=0>: 
"An organization may require its employees to participate in campaign 
activities during work time without violating campaign finance laws, 
according to the three Republican members of the Federal Election 
Commission. A statement, released Aug. 24, explained the votes of the 
FEC Republicans to dismiss coercion charges leveled against a Hawaii 
government workers union, the United Public Workers (UPW)."

"The 'statement of reasons' filed in the matter by the three FEC 
Republicans is online at 
http://eqs.nictusa.com/eqsdocsMUR/12044320562.pdf. The FEC Democrats' 
statement is at http://eqs.nictusa.com/eqsdocsMUR/12044314776.pdf."

This could potentially be very big.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    "House Bill 1355 and Voter Registration in Florida"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39080>

Posted on August 24, 2012 6:28 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39080> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Michael Herron and Dan Smith have posted this draft paper 
<http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Eherron/FloridaVoterRegistrationsHB1355.pdf> 
(to be presented at APSA). Here is the abstract:

    July 1, 2011, saw changes to the Florida state laws that govern the
    ways that individuals and nonpartisan community groups register
    voters in the state. Among the legal changes promulgated were new
    registration requirements for third-party groups like the League of
    Women Voters and a new oath, warning of prison time and fines, that
    voter registration agents had to sign before engaging in
    registration activities. Such changes raised the implicit costs that
    eligible Florida citizens faced when registering to vote, and we
    show, consistent with this logic, that voter registrations across
    Florida in late 2011 dropped precipitously compared to registrations
    in late 2007. This pattern is evident among registrants in general,
    among registrants age 21 and younger, and among the number of
    individuals who registered as Democrats and the number of who
    registered as Republicans. Beyond the aforementioned, mid-2011
    changes in voter registration regulations, all of which were
    products of a piece of Florida state legislation known as House Bill
    1355, we know of no credible, alternative explanations for our
    findings. Our results thus show how restrictions on the way that
    third-party organizations register voters can have tangible effects
    on actual registrations and, given that registration prior to an
    election is a civic necessity in Florida, can affect electoral
    participation.

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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, 
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter registration 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37> | Comments Off

    "Group Behind Sidelined Issue Sues Ohio Official"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39076>

Posted on August 24, 2012 5:33 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39076> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP 
<http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/group-behind-sidelined-issue-sues-ohio-official/694d2ef31f19416b88377484793fc4b6>: 
"Supporters of a sidelined ballot issue over Ohio election laws are 
suing the state elections chief for another chance at the ballot."

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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

    "Groups ask judges to review whether GOP lawyers hid evidence"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39073>

Posted on August 24, 2012 4:58 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39073> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

News 
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/groups-ask-judges-to-review-whether-gop-lawmakers-hid-evidence-ah6k436-167362255.html> 
from Wisconsin: "The plaintiffs in a redistricting case against GOP 
lawmakers want federal judges to order a review of whether Republicans' 
lawyers hid key evidence."

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Posted in chicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, redistricting 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6> | Comments Off

    "Litigating the vote: Since 2000, the number of election lawsuits
    per year has more than doubled. Possible reasons: Litigation is a
    more accepted political strategy, and partisans count the votes."
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39070>

Posted on August 24, 2012 2:42 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39070> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The National Law Journal has postedthis excerpt 
<http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202568878820&thepage=1>from 
The Voting Wars. 
<http://www.amazon.com/Voting-Wars-Florida-Election-Meltdown/dp/0300182031/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1329286945&sr=1-2-catcorr> 
It begins:

    The morning after Election Day in 2008, Norm Coleman faced a tough
    question from reporter Curt Brown of the /Minneapolis Star Tribune/.
    "If you were down by 725 [votes], would you say forget it and save
    the taxpayers' money?"

    It is a question no candidate slightly ahead of a competitor wants
    to answer. Although the public accepts election totals as they come
    in on election night as an accurate representation of the truth,
    such numbers are usually wrong and almost always incomplete. In the
    rush to get everything done on election night, election officials
    sometimes misreport numbers or, as we saw in the Wisconsin Supreme
    Court race, even forget to report totals from entire towns. It takes
    days for officials to verify and recheck the numbers. Many states
    also have absentee ballots to process and count, and now, in part
    thanks to the Help America Vote Act, there are often piles of
    provisional ballots to consider. When the apparent winner is ahead
    by thousands of votes in a statewide race, and Election Day comes
    and goes with no reports of widespread problems or irregularities,
    it is usually safe for candidates to expect that the outcome will
    not change. Election officials then certify the results weeks later.
    But when the margin is closer, candidates concede or declare victory
    at their peril.

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Posted in The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | 
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    Oops: "Pa. lawmaker changes his story about voter fraud"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39067>

Posted on August 24, 2012 1:12 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39067> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP reports 
<http://www.herald-mail.com/news/tristate/hm-pa-lawmaker-changes-his-story-about-voter-fraud-20120824,0,6449601.story>that 
Pa. lawmaker who had earlier claimed his identity was stolen and someone 
voted in his place was not accurate.

He blamed it on "human error."    Here's more background to the story. 
<http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20120824_Colleague_slaps_voter-ID_sponsor.html>

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Posted in The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9> | Comments Off

-- 
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-8000
949.824.3072 - office
949.824.0495 - fax
rhasen at law.uci.edu
http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org
Now available: The Voting Wars: http://amzn.to/y22ZTv

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