[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/27/12

Fri Jan 27 10:56:40 PST 2012

I have a draft article available on this exact issue:  the procedure of
state election contests in all fifty states.  The article catalogs how
states decide election contests for all kinds of elections and includes an
appendix with all 50 states.  I sent it to Richard off-list, but if anyone
else wants a copy just let me know (I'll distribute it more widely once it
is finalized).

Josh

-- 
Joshua A. Douglas
Assistant Professor of Law
University of Kentucky College of Law
620 S. Limestone
Lexington, KY 40506
(859) 257-4935
joshuadouglas at uky.edu

On Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 1:17 PM, Reuben, Richard C. <ReubenR at missouri.edu>wrote:

>  ** **
>
> I am working on an article on state election law contests in Missouri, and
> am looking for information on the law of state election law contests in
> other states – what the big issues are, how courts have ruled on them, etc.
> Is anyone aware of any research on this that you can point me to? Please
> feel free to respond off-line to ReubenR at missouri.edu.****
>
> ** **
>
> Thanks,****
>
> ** **
>
> Richard.****
>
> ** **
>
> Richard C. Reuben****
>
> James Lewis Parks Professor of Law****
>
> University of Missouri School of Law****
>
> Hulston Hall****
>
> Columbia, MO   65211****
>
> Phone: 573-884-5204****
>
> Fax: 573-882-3343****
>
> Email: ReubenR at missouri.edu****
>
> Internet: law.missouri.edu/reuben****
>
> Personal: richardreuben.com****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:
> law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] *On Behalf Of *Rick Hasen
> *Sent:* Friday, January 27, 2012 10:31 AM
> *To:* law-election at UCI.edu
> *Subject:* [EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/27/12****
>
> ** **
>  The Big Campaign Finance Question Tuesday: 501c4 Contributions<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28776>
> ****
>
> Posted on January 27, 2012 8:24 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28776>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> ****
>
> January 31 is an important day for campaign finance reporting, including
> when a number of new super PACs will be reporting for the first time.****
>
> The issue I will be watching: how many of these groups will be reporting
> contributions from (affiliated) 501(c)(4) organizations, which don’t have
> to report their donors publicly.  The great fear that I and many others
> have is that individuals, corporations, and other entities will try to hide
> their identities by funneling money through (c)(4)s.****
>
> [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D28776&title=The%20Big%20Campaign%20Finance%20Question%20Tuesday%3A%20501c4%20Contributions&description=>
> ****
>
> Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | Comments
> Off ****
>   “New Pew Report Details Progress on Military, Overseas Voting”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28774>
> ****
>
> Posted on January 27, 2012 8:21 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28774>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> ****
>
> Doug Chapin<http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/peea/2012/01/new_pew_report_details_progress.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HHHElections+%28Program+for+Excellence+in+Election+Administration%29>
> :****
>
> Today at the 2012 Overseas Vote Summit<https://www.overseasvotefoundation.org/initiatives-UOCAVAsummit-summit2012>in Washington, DC the Pew Center on the States will release
> *Democracy from Afar: States Show Progress on Military and Overseas Voting<http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/Pew_Democracy_From_Afar.pdf>
> *, a new report updating progress on the issue of military and overseas
> voting first highlighted by Pew’s 2009 report *No Time To Vote*<http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/report_detail.aspx?id=47952>
> .****
>
> *Democracy from Afar* finds that “47 states and the District of Columbia
> enacted laws to protect the voting rights of military and overseas
> citizens”. More specifically, Pew found that “many states have implemented
> changes to their laws or administrative codes,” including -****
>
> + *Enough time to vote*: 38 states and the District have laws or rules
> meeting or exceeding federal requirements to send ballots to military and
> overseas voters at least 45 days before an election AND 8 additional states
> changed their primary dates to accommodate the requirement;****
>
> +* Electronic transmission of unvoted ballots*: All states and the
> District allow military and overseas voters to receive blank ballots
> electronically;****
>
> + *Eliminating requirements for notarization or witnesses*: 46 states and
> the District do not call for either for military and overseas voters; and*
> ***
>
> + *Expanded use of Federal Write-in Absentee Ballots (FWABs)*: 34 states
> and the District mandate FWABs be used as a backup ballot for all
> elections, including state and local.****
>
> All of these changes are summarized state-by-state in a typically
> handy-dandy Pew chart on page 5 of the report.****
>
> It really is remarkable how far this issue has come in about three years;
> Pew’s election team and its huge coalition of partners including OVF<http://overseasvotefoundation.org/>,
> the Pentagon’s Federal Voting Assistance Program <http://fvap.gov/> and
> the Uniform Law Commission (whose Uniform Military and Overseas Voting Act<http://www.uniformlaws.org/Act.aspx?title=Military+and+Overseas+Voters+Act>is one ongoing vehicle for state and local reform) should be deeply
> gratified at everything they have accomplished.****
>
> Kudos to Director David Becker and the rest of the team at Pew’s Election
> Initiatives <http://pewcenteronthestates.org/elections>, especially my
> former colleagues Matthew Morse and Stacie Temple, who skillfully and
> doggedly rode the rollercoaster of the Congressional and state legislative
> process to see so many of these changes through.****
>
> On behalf of Americans around the world who now have an opportunity to
> cast a timely and valid ballot – I salute you.****
>
>  ****
>
> [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D28774&title=%E2%80%9CNew%20Pew%20Report%20Details%20Progress%20on%20Military%2C%20Overseas%20Voting%E2%80%9D&description=>
> ****
>
> Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> | Comments
> Off ****
>   “Why redistricting commissions aren’t immune from politics”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28772>
> ****
>
> Posted on January 27, 2012 8:19 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28772>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> ****
>
> Stateline reports<http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=627668>
> .****
>
> [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D28772&title=%E2%80%9CWhy%20redistricting%20commissions%20aren%E2%80%99t%20immune%20from%20politics%E2%80%9D&description=>
> ****
>
> Posted in citizen commissions <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=7>,
> redistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6> | Comments Off ****
>   Council of Europe Calls for More Transparency in U.S. Election Financing<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28769>
> ****
>
> Posted on January 27, 2012 8:15 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28769>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> ****
>
> See here<http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/greco/news/News%2820120126%29Eval3_USA_en.asp>
> .****
>
> [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D28769&title=Council%20of%20Europe%20Calls%20for%20More%20Transparency%20in%20U.S.%20Election%20Financing&description=>
> ****
>
> Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | Comments
> Off ****
>   NYT Editorializes on the Shelby County Voting Rights Case<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28766>
> ****
>
> Posted on January 27, 2012 8:13 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28766>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> ****
>
> The Times<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/opinion/voting-and-racial-history.html?_r=1&ref=opinion>
> :****
>
> When Congress nearly unanimously reauthorized the Voting Rights Act in
> 2006, it relied on abundant evidence that there is still pervasive,
> persistent, even Jim Crow-style voting discrimination<http://www.protectcivilrights.org/pdf/voting/LouisianaVRA.pdf>in the South and elsewhere — including in Shelby County and other parts of
> Alabama. Without Section 5’s preclearance requirement, Congress found,
> “racial and language minority citizens will be deprived of the opportunity
> to exercise their right to vote, or will have their votes diluted,
> undermining the significant gains made by minorities in the last 40 years.”
> ****
>
> The provision remains an effective and essential check against widespread
> voting violations. Many jurisdictions still actively sabotage the interests
> of minority voters, as shown in new efforts to keep these voters from the
> polls. Discrimination would be even more widespread without the continuing
> and critical deterrence of the preclearance requirement.****
>
>  [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D28766&title=NYT%20Editorializes%20on%20the%20Shelby%20County%20Voting%20Rights%20Case&description=>
> ****
>
> Posted in Voting Rights Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15> | Comments
> Off ****
>   “4 lawmakers fight effort to depose them over election-law changes”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28763>
> ****
>
> Posted on January 27, 2012 8:07 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28763>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> ****
>
> The *Orlando Sentinel *reports<http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-election-court-fight-20120126,0,3123997.story>
> .****
>
> [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D28763&title=%E2%80%9C4%20lawmakers%20fight%20effort%20to%20depose%20them%20over%20election-law%20changes%E2%80%9D&description=>
> ****
>
> Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> | Comments
> Off ****
>   “State ignores voters on constitutional convention; Majority voted in
> favor of con-con in 2010, yet it hasn’t been convened”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28760>
> ****
>
> Posted on January 27, 2012 8:04 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28760>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> ****
>
> J.H. Snider has written this oped<http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-con-con-20120118,0,1064670.story>for the
> *Baltimore Sun*.****
>
> [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D28760&title=%E2%80%9CState%20ignores%20voters%20on%20constitutional%20convention%3B%20Majority%20voted%20in%20favor%20of%20con-con%20in%202010%2C%20yet%20it%20hasn%E2%80%99t%20been%20convened%E2%80%9D&descript>
> ****
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1> | Comments Off
> ****
>   “Republicans May Block Nominees After Obama Recess Appointments”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28758>
> ****
>
> Posted on January 27, 2012 8:03 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28758>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> ****
>
> Bloomberg reports<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-26/republicans-may-impede-some-judges-after-recess-appointments.html>
> .****
>
> [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D28758&title=%E2%80%9CRepublicans%20May%20Block%20Nominees%20After%20Obama%20Recess%20Appointments%E2%80%9D&description=>
> ****
>
> Posted in legislation and legislatures<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>
> | Comments Off ****
>   Criticism of PA Justice Baer <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28756> ****
>
> Posted on January 27, 2012 8:02 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28756>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> ****
>
> Following up on this post <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28725>, the Pa.
> GOP has blasted<http://articles.philly.com/2012-01-26/news/30666924_1_comments-democrat-max-baer-justices>Justice Baer for talking to the press about an ongoing case and fortaking at trip<http://howappealing.law.com/012612.html#044482>to Puerto Rico while the redistricting opinion is pending.
> ****
>
> [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D28756&title=Criticism%20of%20PA%20Justice%20Baer&description=>
> ****
>
> Posted in redistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6> | Comments Off
> ****
>   Thought of the Night <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28752> ****
>
> Posted on January 26, 2012 8:29 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28752>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> ****
>
> Despite all the talk of the influence of money in a post-*Citizens United*world (and I do believe it is aproblem<http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/09/opinion/hasen-super-pacs/index.html>for the legislative process), it is heartening that public opinion on the
> presidential election seems driven to a great extent by the debates rather
> than by ads.  If, as some predict, Gingrich tanks again after tonight, it
> won’t be because of disparities in super-PAC spending.****
>
> [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D28752&title=Thought%20of%20the%20Night&description=>
> ****
>
> Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | Comments
> Off ****
>   “So Who’s a Lobbyist” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28749> ****
>
> Posted on January 26, 2012 7:24 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28749>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> ****
>
> This NY Times editorial<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/opinion/so-whos-a-lobbyist.html>endorses reforms from the  the lobbying task
> force<http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/2011_build/administrative_law/lobbying_task_force_report_010311.authcheckdam.pdf>of the American Bar Association [Disclosure: I am a member of the task
> force].****
>
> [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D28749&title=%E2%80%9CSo%20Who%E2%80%99s%20a%20Lobbyist%E2%80%9D&description=>
> ****
>
> Posted in legislation and legislatures<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>,
> lobbying <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28> | Comments Off ****
>   “Testimony in Texas Redistricting Trial Ends”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28746>
> ****
>
> Posted on January 26, 2012 7:20 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28746>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> ****
>
> The lates<http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Testimony-in-Texas-redistricting-trial-wraps-up-2733232.php>t
> from D.C.****
>
> [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D28746&title=%E2%80%9CTestimony%20in%20Texas%20Redistricting%20Trial%20Ends%E2%80%9D&description=>
> ****
>
> Posted in Department of Justice <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>,
> redistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Voting Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
> | Comments Off ****
>   Does the “Stand by Your Ad” Provision Have Any Meaning?<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28743>
> ****
>
> Posted on January 26, 2012 5:31 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28743>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> ****
>
> Andrew Kaczynski<https://twitter.com/#%21/AKaczynski1/status/162708218718593024>tweets about Mitt Romney statements during debate: “Romney just said I
> doubt an ad is mine. Well it is. Earlier he said he doesn’t watch ads he
> approves.”****
>
>  ****
>
> [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D28743&title=Does%20the%20%E2%80%9CStand%20by%20Your%20Ad%E2%80%9D%20Provision%20Have%20Any%20Meaning%3F&description=>
> ****
>
> Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | Comments
> Off ****
>  “Pro-Mitt Romney super PAC seems to parallel his campaign”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28741>
> ****
>
> Posted on January 26, 2012 5:28 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=28741>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> ****
>
> *USA Today* reports<http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-01-27/mitt-romney-super-PAC-comparisons/52809052/1?dlvrit=384245>
> .****
>
> [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D28741&title=%E2%80%9CPro-Mitt%20Romney%20super%20PAC%20seems%20to%20parallel%20his%20campaign%E2%80%9D&description=>
> ****
>
> Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 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****
>
> _______________________________________________
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