[EL] ELB News and Commentary 7/31/12

Rick Hasen rhasen at law.uci.edu
Tue Jul 31 08:32:55 PDT 2012


    "Reporters Know What the 'Voter ID' Push Is Really About. Why Don't
    They Just Say So?" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37797>

Posted on July 31, 2012 8:30 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37797> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Dan Froomkin has this piece 
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-froomkin/reporters-know-what-the-v_b_1719778.html> 
at the Huffington Post.  I actually think the issue is more complex 
<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> 
than Dan suggests.

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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


    "Online Service Works With Colleges to Get Students Registered to
    Vote" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37794>

Posted on July 31, 2012 8:25 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37794> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

/The Chronicle of Higher Education/ reports 
<http://chronicle.com/article/Online-Service-Works-With/133071/> on the 
work of TurboVote 
<http://blog.turbovote.org/2012/07/a-turbovote-benchmark-2/>.

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Posted in voter registration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37> | 
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    "Merced County voting restrictions should be lifted, feds say"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37791>

Posted on July 31, 2012 8:23 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37791> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

McClatchy reports 
<http://www.modbee.com/2012/07/30/2303858/merced-county-voting-restrictions.html>. 
And here's the press release <http://voterlaw.com/press07302012.htm> 
from the "Bailout King," Gerry Hebert.

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Posted in Voting Rights Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15> | 
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    Be Careful If You Sign Up for Romney Mobile App
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37788>

Posted on July 31, 2012 8:21 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37788> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CNN reports 
<http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/31/campaigns-debut-mobile-apps/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_politicalticker+%28Blog%3A+Political+Ticker%29> 
that if you want to be among the first to find out about Mitt Romney's 
Vice Presidential pick, you should sign up for his mobile app.

I signed up for the Obama text message to find out about his v.p. choice 
in 2008.  I've never sent a text again, given any information besides my 
phone number, or sent the campaign (or any presidential campaign) a 
penny in contributions.  But I have received dozens and dozens of text 
messages from the Obama campaign over the last few years.  Just 
yesterday, I received a text from Michelle Obama asking me to sign the 
President's birthday card (and, I assume, make a donation at the same 
time.)  I have not unsubscribed because I am interested in watching if, 
and how, my cell phone number will be sold to other campaigns.

So signing up to be among the first to find out Romney's v.p. choice may 
hardly be free.

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


    " Tea party retools as network of field operatives, keeps pushing
    GOP rightward" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37785>

Posted on July 31, 2012 7:52 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37785> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Interesting WaPo report 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/tea-party-retools-itself-pushing-republicans-toward-more-strident-conservative-positions/2012/07/30/gJQAGuG1KX_story.html>.

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Posted in campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, political 
polarization <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68> | Comments Off


    "Republicans Outraising Democratic Rivals in House Races"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37782>

Posted on July 31, 2012 7:50 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37782> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Bloomberg reports 
<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-31/republicans-outraising-democratic-rivals-in-house-races.html>.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    "The Only Way to Fix Campaign-Finance Regulation Is to Destroy It"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37779>

Posted on July 31, 2012 7:46 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37779> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ron Faucheux has written this piece 
<http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/07/the-only-way-to-fix-campaign-finance-regulation-is-to-destroy-it/260426/#> 
for the Atlantic Online.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    Allegations of Phony Vouchers for Election-Related "Street Money" in
    Trial of PA State Supreme Court Justice
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37776>

Posted on July 30, 2012 8:40 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37776> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Strong allegations 
<http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/politics-state/former-clerks-testify-at-orie-melvin-preliminary-hearing-646864/>:

    Ms. Sasinoski referred back to an incident just before the 2003
    general election when she claimed that Janine Orie, the judge's
    sister and office manager, asked her to copy receipts and vouchers
    of her travels with the judge, to make it appear the judge's other
    sister, Sen. Jane Orie, accompanied them in their campaign travels.
    In that way, they could get a check from the campaign treasury,
    write it out to Jane Orie for reimbursement, and she would then in
    turn provide the campaign cash to be used as street money. She
    explained that street money was used to encourage and help people
    get to the polls.

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


    "Racial and ethnic proportions of early in-person voters in Cuyahoga
    County, General Election 2008, and implications for 2012?
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37773>

Posted on July 30, 2012 8:35 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37773> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NE Ohio Voter Advocates has issued this report 
<http://www.nova-ohio.org/Racial%20and%20ethnic%20proportions%20of%20early%20in-person%20voting.pdf>.  
Here is the summary:

    **Data from the Cuyahoga BOE giving addresses and voting times  of
    all voters in the 2008 General Election were used to reconstruct
    racial voting patterns**amongst early in-person (EIP) voters vs.
    those who voted by mail or on election day (non-EIP) voters.  It was
    assumed that voting by race or Hispanic ethnicity in any census
    block was in proportion to the percentage of African Americans or
    Hispanics in that block

    The likelihood that an EIP voter was black was 56.4%, while the
    probability that an election day or vote-by-mail voter was black was
    25.7%. White voters showed the reverse pattern, comprising 40.0% of
    EIP voters and 69.4% of non-EIP voters.  The likelihood of those
    voting in 2008 during different EIP time periods to be African
    American were similar: 59% during the 3-days (+Friday after 6 pm)
    period just before election day, eliminated by state law; 56% during
    regular EIP business hours and also during the 4 weekends prior to
    the last; and 54% during after-hours.  An estimated 15.6% of all
    votes cast by African Americans were EIP vs. 4.5% of all votes cast
    by whites.

    Mapping of EIP early voting showed a clear visual correlation with
    the geographic distribution of African-Americans. The proportion of
    Hispanic voters was only slightly different between EIP and non-EIP
    voters. Finally a correlation analysis at the block level showed
    that the apparent African American predominance during EIP was not
    due to some special factor prevailing on weekends or after-hours,
    because there was also high participation by African-Americans
    during regular business hours. Nearly half of the hours and days of
    EIP  in which African Americans were a majority may be cut in 2012.
    We conclude that in Cuyahoga County, and quite probably in other
    counties with substantial black populations, elimination of ANY EIP
    voting period clearly disproportionately affects African Americans
    in an election similar to 2008.

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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


    "Election law 'literally an ass': Key"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37769>

Posted on July 30, 2012 4:42 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37769> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Despite this headline 
<http://news.msn.co.nz/nationalnews/8508211/election-law-literally-an-ass-key>on 
MSN New Zealand, it does not appear, alas, that election law is 
literally an ass.

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Posted in election law "humor" <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=52> | 
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    "How corporate PACs deal with bad PR"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37766>

Posted on July 30, 2012 3:46 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37766> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

A /Politico/ primer <http://politi.co/MuNhgN>.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    "Lawsuit challenges Ohio provisional ballot rules"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37763>

Posted on July 30, 2012 3:40 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37763> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Reuters reports 
<http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Legal/News/2012/07_-_July/Lawsuit_challenges_Ohio_provisional_ballot_rules/>.

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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, 
provisional ballots <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=67>, The Voting 
Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off


    "Fla. elections official steps down before primary"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37760>

Posted on July 30, 2012 3:24 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37760> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Hmmm 
<http://www.nbc-2.com/story/19150501/fla-elections-official-steps-down-before-primary>.

UPDATE: See this updated story, 
<http://www.news-press.com/article/20120730/NEWS0107/307300028/Top-elections-official-steps-down> 
which includes the following:

    But Salas was also deeply involved in the effort by the state to
    identify non-U.S. citizens on the voter rolls....

    Salas spent 26 years working for Miami-Dade County, including 15
    years in the county elections office. She also worked as chief
    deputy supervisor of elections in Broward County before taking a job
    with Marion County. She was working as an adjunct professor when she
    became the elections division director.

    Ann McFall, the Republican elections supervisor from Volusia County,
    questioned the timing.

    "She was a good person," McFall said. "She would never do this two
    weeks before an election."

    Salas did not respond to an email to her personal email account.

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


    "Occupy Wall Street Politics & Electoral Reform Working Group
    Releases Report on First Voting Experiment Survey Sample, Prepares
    for Election Day Alternative Voting Study"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37757>

Posted on July 30, 2012 1:59 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37757> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

See this press release 
<http://www.paercom.net/downloads/files/Press%20Release.pdf>.

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Posted in alternative voting systems 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=63> | Comments Off


    Surprise: Republicans Fundraising Off Voter Fraud Allegations
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37754>

Posted on July 30, 2012 1:14 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37754> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Last week I had a blog post entitled Democrats Fundraising Off Voting 
Wars in PA Voter ID Suit <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37520>, which began:

    Christian Adams reports
    <http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/07/25/doj-voter-id-letter-generates-cash-for-dccc/>.

    One of the main claims I make regarding voter i.d. 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>/
    is that the battle over voter i.d. is as much (if not more) about
    motivating the base and raising funds /by both parties/ than it is
    about having a great effect on voter fraud or voter turnout.

So this news 
<http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/city/State-GOP-fund-raising-off-City-Commission-voter-report.html> 
came as no surprise. From a fundraising email from Rob Gleason, chairman 
of the Pa. Republican Party: "Every illegal vote cancels out a valid 
vote, so thanks to Philadelphia voter fraud, your vote doesn't count."

Notice the emphasis on /Philadelphia/ voter fraud. In this universe, it 
is only the urban-minority-union machine which engages in voter fraud.

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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, 
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9> | Comments Off


    "Daniel Inouye Backs Filibuster Changes"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37751>

Posted on July 30, 2012 12:34 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37751> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Roll Call reports 
<http://www.rollcall.com/issues/58_13/Daniel-Inouye-Backs-Filibuster-Changes-216528-1.html?pos=htmbtxt>.

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Posted in legislation and legislatures 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27> | Comments Off


    "Super PACs: $125 million spent --- and counting"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37749>

Posted on July 30, 2012 12:33 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37749> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CBS 
<http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57482240/super-pacs-$125-million-spent-and-counting/>: 
"With less than 100 days to go in the presidential race, nine 
single-candidate "super" PACs --- political action committees that can 
raise and spend unlimited sums on political expression -- have spent 
$125 million advocating and advertising for their preferred candidate, a 
CBS News analysis of Federal Election Commission reports shows."

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    "The National Parties Are Holding Their Own Financially at the
    Eighteen-Month Mark; But Standing Pat Would Be a Relative Decline
    for Congressional Parties after Citizens' United"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37746>

Posted on July 30, 2012 9:03 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37746> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Campaign Finance Institute 
<http://cfinst.org/Press/PReleases/12-07-30/The_National_Parties_Are_Holding_Their_Own_Financially_at_the_Eighteen-Month_Mark.aspx>:

    The parties' hard money success since 2002 has come about because
    the parties replaced soft money with (a) money from small donors
    coming into all six committees, (b) money from Members of Congress
    to the four Hill committees, and (c) money from presidential
    candidates' joint fundraising committees coming into the RNC and
    DNC. More about each of these points will come later.

    If asked to predict, we would expect the parties to continue their
    record fundraising through the full two year cycle. We note that
    even though the parties in 2004 and 2008 were behind 2000 at the
    eighteen month mark, both of these elections showed the parties
    raising more in hard money over the full two-year cycle than the
    parties had ever before raised in hard and soft money combined (see
    Table 4
    <http://www.cfinst.org/pdf/federal/parties/2012/Parties12_18M_Table4.pdf>
    and 5
    <http://www.cfinst.org/pdf/federal/parties/2012/Parties12_18M_Table5.pdf>.)

    However, this does not mean all six committees are doing equally
    well. The DNC and RNC are financially strong. The four congressional
    committees look well compared to years past, but none has the money
    yet to counter the greatly expanded barrage of non-party independent
    spending that is likely to come in key races after Labor Day.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    "Pennsylvania's Voter ID Law Faces Court Challenge"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37743>

Posted on July 30, 2012 8:40 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=37743> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NPR reports 
<http://www.npr.org/2012/07/30/157580696/pennsylvanias-voter-id-law-faces-court-challenge>.

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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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