[EL] Breaking News from Ohio/Minnesota and More News

Mon Aug 27 14:19:04 PDT 2012

    Breaking News: Federal Court Orders Ohio to Accept Provisional
    Ballots Cast in the Wrong Precinct Because of Poll Worker Error
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39179>

Posted on August 27, 2012 2:17 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39179> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I have posted the order and opinion here 
<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/SEIU-v.-Husted.pdf>.

This is an exceedingly important issue---and very important to get 
clarification well before election day.  The state Supreme Court ordered 
wrong precinct votes (because of poll worker error) to be counted under 
state law, but the federal courts are saying that doing so would violate 
the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution (relying, with 
irony/poetic justice/pick your adjective , /Bush v Gore/).

I expect there will be an appeal.  It may well be that the Sixth Circuit 
will be bound by the legal determinations on this question (and the 
meaning of /Bush v. Gore/) from the /Hunter/ litigation. And what that 
means is....

we could well see an en banc Sixth Circuit review of this question, and 
potentially even Supreme Court review before election day.

This is one to watch. /SIEU v. Husted./

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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, 
provisional ballots <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=67>, The Voting 
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    "Minn. Supreme Court rejects challenge, leaves voter ID on ballot"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39175>

Posted on August 27, 2012 2:06 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39175> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

News <http://www.postbulletin.com/news/stories/display.php?id=1506372> 
from Minnesota: "The high court tossed out a lawsuit from left-leaning 
groups who argued that lawmakers had failed to give voters the full 
scope of the changes that would result from the amendment.  In a 
separate decision, the court also threw out ballot titles written by 
Secretary of State Mark Ritchie for the photo ID amendment and another 
amendment to ban gay marriage. Republicans had argued that Ritchie, a 
Democrat, overstepped his authority and was trying to influence voters 
to reject both amendments."

The dissent in the first case begins:

PAGE, Justice (dissenting).

    Bait and Switch: the ploy of offering a person something desirable
    to gain favor (as political support) then thwarting expectations
    with something less desirable.

Bait and Switch, Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 
http://www.merriam-webster.com (last visited July 27, 2012). What we are 
dealing with here is a classic bait and switch.

 From the court's website:

        *SPECIAL RELEASE OPINIONS OF THE SUPREME COURT *

        *FILED AUGUST 27, 2012*

          **

A12-0920 
<http://www.mncourts.gov/Documents/0/Public/Clerks_Office/SC%20Opinions/OPA120920-0827.pdf> 
League of Women Voters Minnesota; Common Cause, a District of
Columbia nonprofit corporation; Jewish Community Action; Gabriel
Herbers; Shannon Doty; Gretchen Nickence; John Harper Ritten;
Kathryn Ibur, Petitioners, vs. Mark Ritchie, in his capacity as Secretary
of State of the State of Minnesota, and not in his individual capacity,
Respondent.
Supreme Court.
1.   Permissive intervention of the Minnesota House and Senate is 
appropriate when the intervenors present common questions of law and 
fact with the present action.  Intervention of a nonprofit organization 
is inappropriate, however, when the entity's only interest in the 
proposed constitutional amendment at issue is lobbying for passage and 
the entity's interests will be adequately represented by the House and 
Senate intervenors.
2.   Minnesota Statutes § 204B.44 (2010), provides this court with 
subject-matter jurisdiction over a claim that a ballot question is so 
misleading that it violates the Minnesota Constitution because it 
deprives voters of the constitutional right to cast a vote for or 
against the proposed constitutional amendment.
3.   The ballot question on a proposed constitutional amendment 
implementing a photographic identification requirement for Minnesota 
voters is not so unreasonable and misleading as to be a palpable evasion 
of the constitutional requirement in Minn. Const. art. IX, § 1, that 
constitutional amendments shall be submitted to a popular vote.
*            Petition denied. Per Curiam.*
*            Dissenting, Justices Alan C. Page and Paul H. Anderson.*
*            Dissenting, Justice Paul H. Anderson.*

A12-1149 
<http://www.mncourts.gov/Documents/0/Public/Clerks_Office/SC%20Opinions/OPA121149-0827.pdf> 
Warren Limmer, et al., Petitioners (A12-1149), vs. Mark Ritchie, in his
A12-1258 
<http://www.mncourts.gov/Documents/0/Public/Clerks_Office/SC%20Opinions/OPA121149-0827.pdf> 
official capacity as Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota, et al,
Respondents (A12-1149), and Mary Kiffmeyer, et al., Petitioners
(A12-1258), vs. Mark Richtie, in his official capacity as Secretary of
State of the State of Minnesota, et al., Respondents (A12-1258).
Supreme Court.
When the Legislature has included a title for a ballot question in the 
bill proposing a constitutional amendment, the "appropriate title" the 
Secretary of State must provide for that ballot question, pursuant to 
Minn. Stat. § 204D.15, subd. 1 (2010), is the title designated by the 
Legislature.
*            Per Curiam.*
*            Dissenting, Justices Alan C. Page and Paul H. Anderson.*
*            Dissenting, Justice Paul H. Anderson.*

------------------------------------------------------------------------
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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

    "South Carolina Voter ID Trial: GOP State Senator Admits Law
    Couldn't Address His Examples Of Voter Fraud "
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39172>

Posted on August 27, 2012 1:47 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39172> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP reports 
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/27/south-carolina-voter-id_n_1834299.html?utm_hp_ref=elections-2012>.

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Posted in Department of Justice <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>, 
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id 
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    "Could there be another 'Bush v. Gore' this year?"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39169>

Posted on August 27, 2012 1:39 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39169> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ann Lousin has written this column 
<http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202568879205&Could_there_be_another_Bush_v_Gore_this_year&slreturn=20120727163656>for 
theNational Law Journal.

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Posted in Supreme Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, The Voting 
Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off

    "Top Romney Lawyer Under Attack for Proposed GOP Rules Change"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39166>

Posted on August 27, 2012 1:35 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39166> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

BLT 
<http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2012/08/top-romney-lawyer-under-attack-for-proposed-gop-rules-change.html>: 
"Patton Boggs partner Benjamin Ginsberg is facing a growing storm of 
criticism from Republican delegates who say he pushed through a rules 
change that would help Mitt Romney if the presumptive GOP nominee ousts 
President Barack Obama and seeks reelection."

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Posted in political parties <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, 
primaries <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32> | Comments Off

    "Secretary of State under fire over 'inactive' voters; Rule allows
    clerks to skip mailing to 'inactive' voters "
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39164>

Posted on August 27, 2012 1:34 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39164> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Colorado Statesman reports. 
<http://www.coloradostatesman.com/content/993698-secretary-state-under-fire-over-%3Finactive%3F-voters>

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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

    "Voter ID: South Carolina Says Law Will Keep Whites From Voting,
    Too" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39161>

Posted on August 27, 2012 1:26 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39161> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

TPM 
<http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/south_carolina_voter_id_trial.php>: 
"Lawyers for South Carolina argued in a federal courtroom on Monday that 
its contested voter ID law would actually affect more white than 
minority voters and should be approved under the Voting Rights Act."

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Posted in Department of Justice <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>, 
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    "What if Gore vs. Bush becomes Obama vs. Romney?"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39159>

Posted on August 27, 2012 1:23 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39159> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Michael Kirkland column 
<http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/08/26/Under-the-US-Supreme-Court-What-if-Gore-vs-Bush-becomes-Obama-vs-Romney/UPI-47321345966200/> 
for UPI.

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Posted in Supreme Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, The Voting 
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    "12 years after Bush v. Gore, how has voting changed?"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39156>

Posted on August 27, 2012 1:18 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39156> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

You can now listen to my interview with Madeline Brand 
<http://www.scpr.org/programs/brand-martinez/2012/08/27/28094/12-years-after-bush-v-gore-how-has-voting-changed/>about 
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>.

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Posted in The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | 
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-- 
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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