[EL] ELB News and Commentary 7/25/12
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Wed Jul 25 09:26:58 PDT 2012
"Groups ask FEC to blur lines between candidates, super PACs and
nonprofits" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37493>
Posted on July 25, 2012 9:19 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37493> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The /Washington Times/ reports
<http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2012/jul/24/groups-ask-fec-blur-lines-between-candidates-super/>.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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"Confessing a lie" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37490>
Posted on July 25, 2012 9:18 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37490> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Dick Polman <http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/blogs/item/41930>: "A
funny thing has happened on the way to the voter-ID trial. The white
people's party has now officially confessed that its core rationale for
the new Pennsylvania law was a crock."
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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
"In Hindsight, Maybe We Shouldn't Have Let Lord Voldemort Start His
Own Super PAC." <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37488>
Posted on July 25, 2012 9:15 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37488> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
McSweeney's
<http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/in-hindsight-maybe-we-shouldnt-have-let-lord-voldemort-start-his-own-super-pac>
(via Nick Confessore)
<https://twitter.com/nickconfessore/status/228151756020916225>.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,
election law "humor" <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=52> | Comments Off
"Lamar Smith Overlooks Texas Voter ID Expert's Work For Karl Rove"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37485>
Posted on July 25, 2012 9:12 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37485> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
TPM reports
<http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/when_justice_department_official_thomas.php>.
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Posted in Department of Justice <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>,
election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting
Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9> | Comments Off
"German court dumps election law that favored Merkel"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37482>
Posted on July 25, 2012 9:09 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37482> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Reuters <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48319048#.UBAZ7KDlfTo>: "Germany's
top court ruled on Wednesday that the country's election law is
unconstitutional, leaving Europe's biggest economy with no valid rules
on how to distribute seats in the Bundestag lower house just over a year
before the next vote."
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Posted in Uncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1> | Comments Off
"'Citizen conventions' should respond to Citizens United, Harvard
law professor suggests Font Size: increase font decrease font
'Citizen conventions' should respond to Citizens United, Harvard law
professor suggests" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37479>
Posted on July 25, 2012 9:07 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37479> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NLJ
<http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202564277666&et=editorial&bu=National%20Law%20Journal&cn=20120725nlj&src=EMC-Email&pt=NLJ.com-%20Daily%20Headlines&kw=%27Citizen%20conventions%27%20should%20respond%20to%20Citizens%20United%20%2C%20Harvard%20law%20professor%20suggests&slreturn=20120625120503>:
"A Harvard Law School professor's idea on campaign finance reform took
center stage at a Senate subcommittee hearing July 24, when he suggested
holding "citizen conventions" to craft a constitutional amendment in
response to the Supreme Court's decision in /Citizens United v. Federal
Election Commission./ Lawrence Lessig, who also directs Harvard
University's Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, testified that
conventions of 300 randomly selected people, held in four areas of the
country, could act as a citizens' jury of how to respond in the wake of
the 2010 decision. Americans will not trust Congress or a 'blue ribbon'
panel to do what is right, Lessig said, because they 'can't believe the
institution has the capacity to change itself to deal with the core
problem.'"
I address Lessig's ideas for fixing campaign financing in Fixing
Washington, <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2017026>
126 /Harvard Law Review/ (forthcoming December 2012).
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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"'You [Mess]ed Up -- You Trusted Us': NM's Registration Form
Shortage" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37477>
Posted on July 25, 2012 9:04 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37477> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
A ChapinBlog
<http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/electionacademy/2012/07/you_messed_up_-_you_trusted_us.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HHHElections+%28The+Election+Aacdemy%29>.
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> |
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USA Today on Single-Donor Super PACS in House Races
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37475>
Posted on July 25, 2012 9:03 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37475> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Investor funds drive against Tennessee Republican
<http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-07-24/super-pacs-tennessee/56465966/1#.UA_8petZ8VY>:
"Nearly three dozen super PACs that have raised at least $100,000 in the
2012 election have five or fewer donors, a USA TODAY analysis shows.
Nearly a third of all contributions to the pro-Mitt Romney super PAC
Restore Our Future --- the super PAC that has raised the most money ---
have come in chunks of least $1 million each. Campaign-finance experts
say super PACs' greatest influence may be felt in House contests. In
2010, the average winner of a House race spent $1.4 million --- a tiny
fraction of the $730 million President Obama
<http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/People/Politicians,+Government+Officials,+Strategists/Executive/Barack+Obama>
spent to win the White House two years earlier, according to data
compiled by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics. 'In a
congressional race, if someone comes in with $100,000 or $200,000 in
well-placed television ads, they can have a real impact,' said Bill
Allison of the Sunlight Foundation, a non-profit group tracking outside
political spending. 'One or two people can really sink a campaign.'"
Indeed, I've been saying for a while that the impact of federal Super
PACs, both electorally and legislatively, will be much more on House and
Senate races than on the presidency.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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"Lobbyists like pro-Obama super PAC"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37472>
Posted on July 25, 2012 8:59 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37472> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
iWatch
<http://www.iwatchnews.org/2012/07/25/10202/lobbyists-pro-obama-super-pac>:
"Only a small number of businesses have given to the pro-President
Barack Obama super PAC, Priorities USA Action
<http://www.iwatchnews.org/2012/01/30/8025/pac-profile-priorities-usa-action>,
and ironically, most of the money raised has come from lobbying shops."
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,
lobbying <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28> | Comments Off
"Big business prefers GOP over Democratic super PACs"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37469>
Posted on July 25, 2012 8:57 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37469> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
iWatch
<http://www.iwatchnews.org/2012/07/25/10201/big-business-prefers-gop-over-democratic-super-pacs>:
"The top two super PACs --- the pro-Mitt Romney Restore Our Future
<http://www.iwatchnews.org/node/7977/> and Karl Rove's American
Crossroads <http://www.iwatchnews.org/node/8056> --- have raised nearly
$24 million in contributions from companies so far this election cycle,
a Center for Public Integrity analysis has found. Donors include hedge
funds, energy companies, dietary supplement makers and even a popcorn
manufacturer. The list includes a handful of Fortune 500 and other
publicly traded corporations, but donors are more likely to be privately
held businesses, often organized as limited partnerships or limited
liability companies. Businesses account for only about 5 percent of
donations to the four most prominent Democratic super PACs. Labor
unions, which were also given greater spending freedom thanks to the
/Citizens United/ decision, make up a much larger percentage of receipts."
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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"Déjà Vu in Texas Voter-ID Fight" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37467>
Posted on July 25, 2012 8:56 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37467> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The Root
<http://www.theroot.com/views/voter-id-story?wpisrc=root_lightbox>: " If
you're a strong believer in maintaining the status quo, the outbreak of
voter-identification laws across the nation just might make sense. If
you're a student of American politics and history, on the other hand,
you see it slightly differently. In that case, what you see is what
we've got: voter suppression."
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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
"Clinton Donor Among Billionaire Backers of Pro-Obama PAC"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37465>
Posted on July 25, 2012 8:55 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37465> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bloomberg <http://bloom.bg/PGBuiZ>: "The Democratic billionaires are back."
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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" TV Ad Makers Earn More Super-PAC Millions for Less Work"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37463>
Posted on July 25, 2012 8:54 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37463> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bloomberg <http://bloom.bg/PG1kUf>: "Davis's experience underscores how
super-PACs are transforming the business of running a political campaign
and changing the pecking order of the most-coveted jobs. Producing and
placing ads have long been two of the most lucrative slots in a campaign
organization. With a super-PAC, the opportunity to make money is soaring
while the job is getting easier to do."
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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"Helicopter parents flood super PACs"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37459>
Posted on July 25, 2012 8:52 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37459> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Vogel <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78931.html> for
Politico: "Talk about helicopter parents: Candidates' rich mothers,
fathers, brothers and sisters increasingly are pouring cash into super
PACs that support their loved ones' campaigns --- a phenomenon that
critics say tests the bounds of both contribution limits and rules
barring
<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55911.html>coordination
<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55911.html> between
candidates and super PACs. But those who've taken advantage of the super
PAC family plan say it's better to get cash from mommy and daddy than
from Big Oil or organized labor, with some suggesting it's simply a
natural extension of self-funded campaigns."
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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"Why votes in Larimer County aren't as secret as you think"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37457>
Posted on July 25, 2012 8:51 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37457> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Coloradoan.com
<http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20120724/NEWS01/307250017/Why-votes-aren-t-secret-you-think?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CNews&nclick_check=1>:
"Because of the way they are sorted, stored and preserved, each voted
ballot in some counties --- including Larimer --- can be traced back to
the individual who cast it, the Citizen Center claims in its federal
lawsuit against six county clerks and Colorado Secretary of State Scott
Gessler. Legal pleadings of the election officials and conversations
with others leave little doubt that ballot data in some counties can be
mined deep enough to reveal who cast each ballot and, consequently, how
they voted. 'We acknowledge that there are some traceable ballots,' said
Andrew Cole, spokesman for the Colorado Secretary of State's Office."
Wow.
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> |
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Harold Myerson Suggets Romney Presidency Could Be Illegitimate
Thanks to New Voter ID Laws <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37454>
Posted on July 25, 2012 8:45 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37454> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Harold Meyerson
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/harold-meyerson-gops-voter-id-tactics-could-undermine-a-romney-win/2012/07/24/gJQAKQcZ7W_story.html>WaPo
oped: "And what should Democrats do if Romney comes to power on the
strength of racially suppressed votes? Such an outcome and such a
presidency, I'd hope they contend, would be illegitimate --- a betrayal
of our laws and traditions, of our very essence as a democratic
republic. Mass demonstrations would be in order. So would a
congressional refusal to confirm any of Romney's appointments. A
presidency premised on a racist restriction of the franchise creates a
political and constitutional crisis, and responding to it with resigned
acceptance or inaction would negate America's hard-won commitment to
democracy and equality."
This really ups the ante in 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>.
I hope to write more about this soon.
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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
"Voter Registration in Four States"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37451>
Posted on July 25, 2012 8:40 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37451> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Pew has just published
<http://www.pewstates.org/research/reports/voter-registration-in-four-states-85899404991>four
graphs on the pace of voter registration in four states (MD, VA, CO, FL)
over time. The key finding is:
These data show the unique business cycle of an elections office,
where every four years there is an explosion of voter registration
activity. Officials plan for staffing and resources that are
sufficient for 47 months out of the 48 month cycle and then face
tremendous challenges during that one month before a presidential
election registration deadline. Finding the time and labor to
process these forms while also conducting the many other activities
necessary to prepare for an election is a daunting task---and one
that election officials will no doubt face again this fall.
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> |
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"Romney camp asks Va. to probe voter forms"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37449>
Posted on July 25, 2012 8:38 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37449> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Times Dispatch
<http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/news/2012/jul/25/tdmain01-romney-camp-asks-va-to-probe-voter-forms-ar-2081517/>:
"Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign is asking
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to launch an investigation into
voter-registration forms that are being sent to Virginia residents and
addressed to deceased relatives, children, family pets and others
ineligible to vote. The errant mailings from the Washington-based
nonprofit group Voter Participation Center have befuddled many Virginia
residents, leading to hundreds of complaints. The organization has been
mass-mailing the forms --- pre-populated with key information such as
names and addresses --- to primarily Democratic-leaning voting blocs
such as young adults, unmarried women, African-Americans and Latinos."
It would be interesting to see if any of these forms are actually
leading to improper voter registrations.
Either way, it sounds like the Voter Participation Center needs to
rethink how it is generating names for these lists.
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Posted in The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter
registration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37> | Comments Off
"Don't believe the polls on third-party contenders"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37447>
Posted on July 25, 2012 8:35 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37447> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
This item
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/07/24/dont-believe-the-polls-on-third-party-contenders/>
appears at WaPo's Wonkblog.
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Posted in ballot access <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=46>, campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, third parties
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=47> | Comments Off
"Council Recall Election Funded by Contractors Past and Present"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37444>
Posted on July 25, 2012 8:33 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37444> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
City Ethics
<http://www.cityethics.org/content/council-recall-election-funded-contractors-past-and-present>:
"Talk about independent expenditures usually refers to such expenditures
in support, or more often in opposition to, federal candidates. At the
local level, the major independent expenditures tend to come from
unions, both public service unions and construction unions. There are
also cases where independent expenditures come from contractors and
others seeking direct benefits from the candidates they support or
oppose. This can look very much like a payoff for favors done and/or for
future favors, generally referred to as pay to play. One such case has
arisen in Montebello, CA, a small city of 62,000. According to an
article posted yesterday evening on the Whittier /Daily News/ website
<http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_21150094/montebello-files-suit-against-salazar-urteaga-and-vasquez>,
a company that had recently obtained a no-bid $150 million, 15-year
refuse hauling contract gave "close to $353,000? (or nearly $14 per
registered voter) to a 2009 Say No on Recall campaign committee it
created. Two of the council members were targeted for recall largely due
to approval of the refuse contract. The small refuse companies that had
formerly done the work provided most of the funding for the pro-recall
committee, according to an article in the San Gabriel Valley /Tribune/
<http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/3417933>."
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, recall
elections <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=11> | Comments Off
The Continuing Need for Supreme Court Clarification of the Line
Between Campaign Contributions, Legitimate Political Activity, and
Bribes <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37436>
Posted on July 25, 2012 7:11 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37436> by
Richard Pildes <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>
The well-known federal district judge, Myron Thompson, recently finished
presiding over one of the largest and most important recent trials in
which the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section sought to
convict numerous state legislators and campaign contributors of federal
bribery based on campaign contributions. Judge Thompson then issued
yesterday a 33-page opinion
<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/thompson-quid.pdf>, as
Rick Hasen noted <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37403>, in which he
showed how complex and confusing current law is regarding the boundary
between legitimate contributions and criminal bribes; after working
through this maze, he then explained why he had decided the particular
jury instructions he gave were his best effort to sort through this body
of law. This extensive and thoughtful opinion is significant for two
reasons.
First, Judge Thompson's opinion concludes with this line, which reflects
a plea from lower court judges (and many others) for Supreme Court
intervention to clarify the law in this important area: "Ultimately, the
Supreme Court needs to address this issue and provide guidance to lower
courts, prosecutors, politicians, donors, and the general public."
Coming from a judge who has just presided over a major case involving
these issues, that's a powerful statement about the legal confusion that
exists in an area of such significance to the democratic process. This
statement makes it all the more disappointing that the Supreme Court,
just a month ago, denied certiorari in the most significant recent case
that raised exactly these issues: the criminal conviction of former
Governor Siegelman, of Alabama. Indeed, if Judge Thompson's opinion and
plea for guidance from lower court judges had been issued while
Siegelman's petition had still been pending, one wonders whether this
confirmation of the need for Supreme Court clarification would have been
enough to tip the scales and push the Supreme Court to have taken the
Siegelman case. (Full disclosure: I filed an amicus brief in support of
Siegelman's cert. petition).
Second, the case over which Judge Thompson presided has gotten far less
national attention than it warrants. The case, known as /McGregor/,
involves another dramatic failure of the Department of Justice,
particularly the Public Integrity Section, to use federal criminal laws
to prosecute what DOJ sees as political corruption. But in addition, the
facts are particularly stunning. Here is just a quick sampler: the DOJ
actions might well have tipped partisan control of one chamber of the
Alabama legislature from one party to the other, even though all the
defendants tried were acquitted; the DOJ intervened to help block a
piece of pending legislation, because of the DOJ view that the
legislation was tainted by bribery (even though the jury concluded
otherwise); the District Court found, as a matter of fact, that the
state Republican Party, for reasons the District Court characterized as
"racist," had used the DOJ to go after the Democratic Party; and yet the
jury completely rejected DOJ's case. The DOJ's failed prosecutions of
John Edwards and Ted Stevens have gotten far more national attention,
but this massive and failed Alabama case illustrates the profound
consequences to state and local politics that can result from DOJ
criminal prosecution of legislative action at the murky boundary between
legitimate campaign contributions and bribery. A brief summary of the
facts in the /McGregor/ case can be found in the reply brief Siegelman's
lawyer, Sam Heldman, filed in the Supreme Court,here
<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/siegelman-reply.pdf>;
Heldman was also one of the lawyers for some defendants in /McGregor/.
Share
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Posted in bribery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=54>, campaign finance
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Department of Justice
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>, John Edwards
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=17>, Supreme Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29> | Comments Off
"Anonymous Donations Can Remain Secret Despite IRS's Requirement for
Disclosure" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37433>
Posted on July 24, 2012 8:33 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37433> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bloomberg BNA
<http://news.bna.com/mpdm/MPDMWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=27414990&vname=mpebulallissues&jd=a0d3t1u2q5&split=0>:
"Organizations receiving money from so-called anonymous donors are
supposed to tell the Internal Revenue Service what they know about the
donors' identity. While no one else may know who they are, IRS does. But
even then, there are ways to get around full disclosure, said attorneys
who represent contributors."
Share
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22> | Comments Off
"Saving throw: securing democracy with stats, spreadsheets, and
10-sided dice" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37430>
Posted on July 24, 2012 8:28 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37430> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Ars Technica offers this extensive report
<http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/07/saving-american-elections-with-10-sided-dice-one-stats-profs-quest/>,
which begins: "Armed with a set of 10-sided dice (we'll get to those in
a moment), an online Web tool, and a stack of hundreds of ballots,
University of California-Berkeley statistics professor Philip Stark
<http://www.stat.berkeley.edu/%7Estark/> spent last Friday unleashing
both science and technology upon a recent California election. He wanted
to answer a very simple question---had the vote counting produced the
proper result?---and he had developed a stats-based system to find out."
Share
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Posted in voting technology <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40> |
Comments Off
Super PAC/C4 Now Wants to Do Joint Fundraising with Candidates
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37426>
Posted on July 24, 2012 4:00 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37426> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Keep your eye on this advisory opinion request t
<http://saos.nictusa.com/aodocs/1214774.pdf>o the FEC from the American
Future Fund and related entities (h/t Marc Elias
<https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/227900342296260608>).
The next frontier/battle.
Share
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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Breaking News: CA Appellate Court Rejects New Challenge to Prop. 13
in Unpublished Opinion <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37423>
Posted on July 24, 2012 2:40 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37423> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The rejected claim
<http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/nonpub/B230629.PDF> was that part of
Prop. 13 "changed the fundamental structure and foundational powers of
the legislative and executive branches of government" and therefore was
really a revision of the CA constitution and not a permissible
amendment. The court held that the CA Supreme Court had already
determined that all of Prop. 13 was a permissible amendment in an
earlier case.
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Posted in direct democracy <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=62> |
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"Dick Durbin Endorses Amendment to Dial Back Citizens United"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37420>
Posted on July 24, 2012 2:20 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37420> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Roll Call reports
<http://www.rollcall.com/news/Dick-Durbin-Endorses-Amendment-to-Dial-Back-Citizens-United-216404-1.html?pos=htmbtxt>.
Share
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
Comments Off
Astroturf Recall? <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37417>
Posted on July 24, 2012 2:17 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37417> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
In California
<http://recallelections.blogspot.com/2012/07/california-dublin-councilman-facing.html>.
Share
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Posted in recall elections <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=11> |
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"Wang: When It Comes to Campaign Cash, There Will Be Scandal"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37415>
Posted on July 24, 2012 2:16 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37415> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Eric Wang has written this Roll Call oped.
<http://www.rollcall.com/news/Wang-When-It-Comes-to-Campaign-Cash-There-Will-Be-Scandal-216382-1.html>
Share
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
Comments Off
"Making Law with Lawsuits: Understanding Judicial Review in Campaign
Finance Policy" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37413>
Posted on July 24, 2012 2:15 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37413> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Rebecca Curry has posted this draft
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2109364>on SSRN.
Here is the abstract:
Campaign finance law presents quite a puzzle: it is an area of
federal policy very closely tied to the interests of incumbents in
the political branches, and yet it is controlled to a great extent
by unelected federal court judges. While we tend to assume that
First Amendment considerations drive judicial review here, scholars
have yet to account for political leaders' decisions to establish
federal court jurisdiction in the first place, allowing lawsuits
that either challenge or enforce the law. Can it be that Congress
went to great lengths to write statutes regulating the use of money
in elections, but had nothing to say about how and to what extent
courts would review the law?
This article examines the role of political leaders in judicializing
campaign finance policy. In a survey of nearly a century of law, and
in a close analysis of the legislative record, I make a number of
surprising findings. I discover that there has been great variation
in judicial review over this history and that it correlates directly
with the choices activists and political leaders have made to
mobilize legal institutions in the making of campaign finance
policy. Moreover, I find that political leaders have maintained the
upper hand in this: where the efforts of independent policy
activists ran counter to their interests (as they did for a brief
period prior to Watergate), legislators quickly changed jurisdiction
rules to foreclose the groups' access to federal courts. But, even
as they restricted public interest litigation in the field,
legislators actually moved to judicialize the policy still more --
and continued to do so even after the Supreme Court substantially
altered the law with its Buckley v. Valeo ruling. In fact, from 1974
onward, the judiciary's power to interpret, enforce and, ultimately,
remake policy has been deliberately delegated to it by Congress.
This history reveals that campaign finance reform has long been a
process of making law with lawsuits, where courts enjoy significant
discretion to revise policy not primarily because of their own
activism, but because political leaders have given them the job.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
Comments Off
Ballot Argument of the Day <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37410>
Posted on July 24, 2012 1:59 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37410> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
California Republicans abandon
<http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/vig-public-display/110612-general-election/prop-40/prop-40-arg-against.pdf>
Prop 40?s attempt to overturn CA Redistricting Commission
Share
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Posted in citizen commissions <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=7>,
direct democracy <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=62>, redistricting
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6> | Comments Off
"Million-dollar donors account for nearly half of GOP super PAC
fundraising" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37407>
Posted on July 24, 2012 12:00 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37407>
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The Fix reports
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/million-dollar-donors-account-for-nearly-half-of-gop-super-pac-fundraising/2012/07/24/gJQATFL36W_blog.html>.
Share
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
Comments Off
Judge Myron Thompson Analyzes When Campaign Contributions Can Be
Bribes <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37403>
Posted on July 24, 2012 11:20 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37403>
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
For those interested in the subject, this opinion
<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/thompson-quid.pdf> is
likely to be very influential.
Share
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Posted in bribery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=54>, campaign finance
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, conflict of interest laws
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=20> | Comments Off
Live Webcast of Senate Committee Hearing on CU Starts in a Few
Minutes <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37399>
Posted on July 24, 2012 11:12 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37399>
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
You can watch it here
<http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/resources/webcasts/livewebcast.cfm>,
and access witness and Senator statements
<http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/hearing.cfm?id=2b53f9fbe82f752c41d78bced0513f11>.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
Comments Off
"Pennsylvania Voter ID Law Goes to Court"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37396>
Posted on July 24, 2012 9:03 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37396> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Ari Berman reports
<http://www.thenation.com/blog/169035/pennsylvania-voter-id-law-goes-court#>
for /The Nation./
Share
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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
Pitts: DOJ's Letter to Pa. on Voter ID Law Was Unusual
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37393>
Posted on July 24, 2012 9:02 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37393> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Mike Pitts <http://indylaw.indiana.edu/people/profile.cfm?Id=293>, a
former DOJ attorney who worked on voting rights issues, and now a
professor at Indiana, sent the following interesting post to the
election law listserv, which I reprint below by permission:
There are a couple of interesting aspects---one procedural and one
substantive---of the Department of Justice's letter to the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that demands information related to the
Commonwealth's nascent photo ID law.
The procedural aspect is that the letter was signed by the Assistant
Attorney General for Civil Rights rather than a career attorney in
the Voting Section. Perhaps some of my former DOJ colleagues on
this listserve would disagree, but my recollection is that's not the
usual course of events for such a letter. Put simply, it's somewhat
unusual for the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights to sign
a letter that essentially opens an investigation. I can think of at
least a couple of reasons for this atypical process. First, the
investigation is so high profile that just the mere opening of an
investigation warrants the Assistant Attorney General's signature.
Second, it could reflect that there is some dissension amongst the
career lawyers as to the propriety of the letter.
The substantive aspect is that the Assistant Attorney General's
demand for information is made pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1974 and it
seems unlikely that this statute applies to at least some of what
the Assistant Attorney General is requesting. Without quoting the
entirety of the statute, the gist of the statute seems to be that
Commonwealth officials are required to keep records related to a
federal election for 22 months following a federal election. I
don't quite see how Pennsylvania's current driver's license and
personal identification database---the second item requested in the
letter---falls within the scope of that statute. Put differently, I
doubt Pennsylvania's driver's license database is a record related
to a federal election held in Pennsylvania during the past 22 months.
It will be interesting to see how the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
responds to the request for information. On the one hand, the
Commonwealth probably has a legitimate argument that it does not
have to provide at least some of the information demanded in the
letter. On the other hand, Pennsylvania may just want to comply
with the demand in order to show it has nothing to hide, as the law
often operates in the shadow of public relations.
Michael J. Pitts
Professor of Law & Dean's Fellow
Chair, Faculty Recruitment Committee
Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law
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Posted in Department of Justice <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>,
election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting
Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9> | Comments Off
"BREAKING: Matt Bai Is Wrong" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37391>
Posted on July 24, 2012 8:58 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37391> by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
This item
<http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/07/24/breaking-matt-bai-is-wrong/>
appears at Balloon Juice.
Share
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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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
Pre-order The Voting Wars: http://amzn.to/y22ZTv
www.thevotingwars.com
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