[EL] ELB News and Commentary 7/27/12

Fri Jul 27 09:26:19 PDT 2012

    "Karl Rove's Catch-22? <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37629>

Posted on July 27, 2012 9:24 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37629> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Must-read 
<http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/karl-rove-crossroads-gps-dark-money-disclosure> 
Andy Kroll on the effects of the Van Hollen 
<http://www.fec.gov/press/press2012/20120727_VanHollen_v_FEC.shtml> ruling:

    Crossroads GPS spokesman Jonathan Collegio declined to say if and
    how his group's strategy would change. "Crossroads is aware of the
    key dates, and closely follows all law and regulations that govern
    the process," he said in an email.

    An official at Americans for Prosperity, the conservative nonprofit
    founded
    <http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer>
    by David Koch, says AFP brass have met multiple times to discuss how
    to tweak the group's ad strategy. One option that's been discussed
    is ramping up the group's online advertising, which isn't affected
    by the beefed-up disclosure rule. The staffer stressed that any
    option forcing AFP to name its donors is off the table. The staffer
    added, however, that AFP would not go dark on the airwaves in the
    run-up to the November elections: "We're going to continue to be on
    the air and continue to follow the law, and we're gonna protect the
    identity of our donors."

    Nonprofits could always gamble that the slow-moving IRS and
    gridlocked FEC won't target them even if they flout the law. And if
    they're caught, the blowback would be relatively minimal when
    compared with the potential for political gain, says Rick Hasen, an
    election law expert at the University of California, Irvine. It's
    unlikely that the IRS or FEC would crack down on lawbreakers before
    Election Day. And if a group got slapped with a six- or seven-figure
    fine after the election, or had to shut down, that's hardly the end
    of the world, Hasen says. "If a nonprofit has to sacrifice its name
    and pay a fee," he says, "and it helps keep the House, win back the
    Senate, and take back the White House, that's a small price to pay."

For more background, see my /Slate /piece from May, Is Campaign 
Disclosure Heading Back to the Supreme Court? Don't expect to see Karl 
Rove's Rolodex just yet. 
<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2012/05/don_t_get_too_excited_about_promises_of_imminent_campaign_finance_disclosure__1.html>

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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

    "Election official could be pivotal in battleground Colorado"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37626>

Posted on July 27, 2012 9:18 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37626> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Must-read 
<http://nbcpolitics.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/27/12991424-election-official-could-be-pivotal-in-battleground-colorado#.UBK3Tifzldo.twitter> 
Tom Curry story for NBC News: "Scott Gessler isn't a household name in 
national politics, but could become famous in a hurry, just as Florida 
Secretary of State Katherine Harris did during the 2000 presidential 
recount."

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Posted in conflict of interest laws 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=20>, election administration 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off

    "Thanks, Citizens United, for This Campaign Finance Mess We're In"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37621>

Posted on July 27, 2012 9:14 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37621> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Adam Skaggs writes 
<http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/07/thanks-citizens-united-for-this-campaign-finance-mess-were-in/260389/> 
for /The Atlantic/.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    "FEC Statement on Van Hollen v. FEC"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37618>

Posted on July 27, 2012 9:11 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37618> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

FEC Press Release 
<http://www.fec.gov/press/press2012/20120727_VanHollen_v_FEC.shtml>

    On March 30, 2012, the United States District Court for the District
    of Columbia, in /Van Hollen v. FEC/, Civ. No. 11-0766 (D.D.C. Mar.
    30, 2012), found that the Commission regulation at 11 CFR
    104.20(c)(9) is invalid. That regulation, which was adopted in 2007
    and governed electioneering communications by corporations and labor
    organizations, required that their donors be disclosed only if their
    donations were "made for the purpose of furthering electioneering
    communications."  The district court found that this limitation on
    disclosure contravened Congress's intent and noted that the
    Commission's pre-2007 regulation "did not add an intent
    requirement." /Van Hollen/, No. 11-0766, slip. op. at 25 n.8 (D.D.C.
    Mar. 30, 2012).  On April 27, 2012, the district court vacated the
    regulation at 11 CFR 104.20(c)(9) and reinstated the Commission's
    prior regulation at 104.20(c), which was promulgated on December 17,
    2002 and was in effect until December 25, 2007. /Van Hollen/, Civ.
    No. 11-0766 (D.D.C. Apr. 27, 2012).

    Both the district court, in its April 27 ruling, and the United
    States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, /Van
    Hollen/, No. 12-5117 (D.C. Cir. May 14, 2012), denied motions by
    defendant-intervenors Center for Individual Freedom and Hispanic
    Leadership Fund to stay the district court's order pending
    appeal.<http://www.fec.gov/press/press2012/20120727_VanHollen_v_FEC.shtml#_ftn1>1

    The Commission is providing this public statement outlining how it
    will comply with the district court's opinion and order pending the
    appeal of the case:...

:

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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

    "Texas Senate race attracts $13 million in super PAC spending"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37616>

Posted on July 27, 2012 9:09 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37616> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

iWatch 
<http://www.iwatchnews.org/2012/07/27/10321/texas-senate-race-attracts-13-million-super-pac-spending>: 
"Tuesday's Republican runoff for U.S. Senate in Texas is the most 
expensive congressional race this election, thanks largely to super PACs 
supporting the underdog tea party candidate over the far-better funded 
favorite."

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    "Obama raises millions for 2012 campaign within spitting distance of
    White House" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37614>

Posted on July 27, 2012 9:08 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37614> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo reports 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/obama-raises-millions-for-2012-campaign-within-spitting-distance-of-white-house/2012/07/26/gJQAbkdeBX_story.html>.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    "Kris Kobach Credits ACORN Hysteria With GOP-Led Voter ID
    Renaissance (VIDEO)" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37609>

Posted on July 26, 2012 4:03 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37609> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

TPM reports 
<http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/kris_kobach_credits_acorn_coverage_for_voter_id_push_video.php>.

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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, 
fraudulent fraud squad <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, The Voting 
Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off

    The Problem of Pollworker Discretion in Implementing PA's Voter ID
    Law <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37605>

Posted on July 26, 2012 3:13 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37605> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

One of the themes of 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> 
is that it is dangerous when we give people charged with running our 
election lots of discretion for interpreting rules for who can vote, 
etc., because inevitably subconscious biases and ideas can sneak in.  I 
talk about that a lot when it comes to my recounting of the Florida 2000 
debacle.  It happened when county canvassing boards were deciding 
whether or not to count votes for Gore, Bush or neither. It happened 
when local election officials decided whether or not to use a faulty 
voter purge list prepared by the state by DBT.  (It also happened when 
the Republican Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, and the Democratic 
Attorney General, Bob Butterworth, gave conflicting interpretations of 
Florida statutory provisions governing the election protest period.)

I was reminded of that when I read this portion of the ACLU-PA's recap 
<http://www.aclupa.blogspot.com/2012/07/voter-id-day-two-statistically-speaking.html>of 
today's testimony in the voter id trial, raising an issue wholly apart 
from the question of how many people don't have the right i.d. or the 
right documents to get that i.d.:

    A buzz-word of the day, "substantial conformity" is the term PA's
    voter ID statue applies to the similarity between a voter's name on
    his or her photo ID and the name that appears on state election
    rolls. The legislature included no definition nor criteria for this
    term, and Ms. Oyler testified that, while the Department of State
    may issue recommendations to the county boards of election, those
    recommendations would be non-binding. Ultimately, the question of
    substantial conformity, and the decision as to whether two names
    match -- say, for example "James Smith" and "Jim Smith" -- will be
    left to those individual boards of elections, and ultimately to the
    individual poll workers.

    Leaving such a subjective determination in the hands of so many
    individuals raises significant questions. Substantive differences in
    name are not uncommon -- particularly for recently-married women,
    who are likely to have obtained a new driver's license, but highly
    unlikely to have updated the election rolls. Voters whose ID is
    rejected would have the opportunity to cast a provisional ballot,
    but as they will have only six days to order and obtain a corrected
    ID card, the odds that their vote will be counted are slim. In his
    testimony, Baretto remarked that any voter who has an ID with a name
    that is not an exact match with his or her name on the voting rolls
    is "at risk" come election day.
    A similar problem confronts the voter ID law's provision for
    "indigent" voters. According to the law, voters who are "indigent"
    are permitted to bypass ID requirements and instead complete a
    special form, which must be submitted to the county board of
    elections to accompany their provisional ballot. Once again,
    however, lawmakers failed to define "indigent," and so it is left to
    the county boards of elections, and ultimately to the discretion of
    individual poll workers, to decide who is indigent and who is not --
    as well as to decide whether to provide the indigent voter form
    on-site at the polling place, or to require the voter to visit
    county election headquarters to obtain the form.
    In short, under PA's new laws you're not only handing that poll
    worker your photo ID card -- you're also handing over unprecedented
    authority over whether or not you can vote. Try to smile.

  This alone raises some serious federal constitutional questions about 
vagueness, due process, and impermissible discretion, issues which were 
not addressed in the U.S. supreme Court's /Crawford/ case.
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The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9> | Comments Off

    "Embattled postal service faces challenge on Election Day"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37602>

Posted on July 26, 2012 2:38 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37602> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NBC News reports 
<http://nbcpolitics.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/26/12973525-embattled-postal-service-faces-challenge-on-election-day#.UBG4QEJh9rw.twitter>.

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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> | 
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    "Electoral College tie possible in Obama-Romney race"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37599>

Posted on July 26, 2012 2:29 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37599> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CNN reports 
<http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/26/politics/electoral-college-tie/index.html>.

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Posted in campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, electoral 
college <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44> | Comments Off

    "Gessler's proposed changes to election rules draw heated
    objections; Democratic legislators say Gessler has gone too far, is
    writing law" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37595>

Posted on July 26, 2012 2:25 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37595> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Colorado Independent 
<http://coloradoindependent.com/124016/gesslers-proposed-changes-to-election-rules-draw-heated-objections>: 
"Over the course of a five-hour rulemaking hearing Monday, Colorado 
Secretary of State Scott Gessler probably got the message that a lot of 
people are unhappy with proposed rules that would stop county clerks 
from mailing ballots to inactive voters in some elections, change the 
way canvass boards are selected and give county clerks more power to 
determine how much access election watchers have."

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

    Bundlers <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37592>

Posted on July 26, 2012 2:23 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37592> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Public Citizen Releases Updated 'White House For Sale' Website to Track 
Bundlers <http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroomredirect.cfm?ID=3676>

More Romney Bundlers are Identified 
<http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/07/more-romney-bundlers-are-identified.html>(Open 
Secrets)

Clinton Allies, Politicians, Among Obama's New Bundlers 
<http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/07/obama-campaign-releases-new-bundler.html> 
(Open Secrets)

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    "'The Debate is Over': FL's 'Non-Citizen' Voter Purge Has Been a
    Spectacular, Disenfranchising Failure"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37590>

Posted on July 26, 2012 2:20 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37590> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

If you can get past the hyperbole and breathlessness, this Brad Blog 
post <http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9412> offers some important factual 
correctives (many from sunshine act requests) about the Florida voter 
purge.  Bottom line: very few non-citizens removed from rolls and very 
little proof of non-citizen voting in Florida, despite claims 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37015> to the contrary.

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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>, voter registration 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37> | Comments Off

    "Scalia Defends 'Citizens United,' Arizona Immigration Decision"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37588>

Posted on July 26, 2012 2:13 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37588> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Tony Mauro reports 
<http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2012/07/scalia-defends-citizens-united-arizona-immigration-decision.html> 
for BLT.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme 
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29> | Comments Off

    "State ballot measures --- the name game"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37586>

Posted on July 26, 2012 2:13 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37586> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Bill McGeveran and Myron Orfield have written this oped 
<http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/163781496.html?refer=y> 
in the /Star-Tribune/.

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Posted in direct democracy <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=62>, 
election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> | Comments Off

    "Washington State partners with Microsoft and Facebook; Facebook
    voter registration app set to launch soon"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37583>

Posted on July 26, 2012 10:29 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37583> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

That's the lead story in this week'sElectionline Weekly. 
<http://www.electionline.org/index.php/electionline-weekly>

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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, 
voter registration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37>, voting 
technology <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40> | Comments Off

    "Pennsylvania Governor Can't Recall Requirements Of Voter ID Law He
    Signed" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37580>

Posted on July 26, 2012 10:22 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37580> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

TPM reports 
<http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/pennsylvania_voter_id_law_tom_corbett.php?ref=fpnewsfeed>.

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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

-- 
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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