[EL] ELB News and Commentary 11/19/12
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Sat Nov 17 20:35:59 PST 2012
"How the FEC can stop the tidal wave of secret political cash"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44479>
Posted on November 17, 2012 8:34 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44479> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Trevor Potter has writtenthis extensive piece
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-the-fec-can-stop-the-tidal-wave-of-secret-political-cash/2012/11/16/966c48cc-2dae-11e2-89d4-040c9330702a_story.html>in
/WaPo/'s outlook section. It begins:
Don't blame /Citizens United/ for the worst excesses of this year's
election.
Instead, look to the failures of the Federal Election Commission.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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"Beware the Smart Campaign" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44476>
Posted on November 17, 2012 8:19 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44476> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Zeynep Tufecki has written this NYT oped
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/opinion/beware-the-big-data-campaign.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0>.
A snippet:
How did Mr. Obama win? The message and the candidate matter, of
course; it's easier to persuade voters if your policies are more
popular and your candidate more appealing. But a modern winning
campaign requires more. As Mr. Messina explained
<http://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/messina-obama-won-on-the-small-stuff-4xvn>,
his campaign made an "unparalleled" $100 million investment in
technology, demanded "data on everything," "measured everything" and
ran 66,000 computer simulations every day. In contrast, Mitt
Romney's campaign's data operations were lagging, buggy and nowhere
as sophisticated. A senior Romney aide described the shock he
experienced in seeing the Obama campaign turn out "voters they never
even knew existed." And that kind of ability matters: while Mr.
Obama did win decisively, the size of his lead in four states that
determined the outcome, Florida, Ohio, Virginia and Colorado, was
about 400,000 votes --- or about 1.2 percent of the eligible voters.
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Posted in campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59> | Comments Off
What's Next in Fixing Ohio's Election System?
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44473>
Posted on November 17, 2012 8:13 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44473> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial
<http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/11/voting_upgrades_this_years_ele.html>:
Ohio Democrats this year had a legitimate case that the GOP was
trying to limit in-person, early-voting options favored by many
minority voters and college students --- for the brazenly partisan
goal of suppressing Democratic turnout. That was reprehensible on
the part of Republicans.
But disagreements about voting hours often morphed into talk of
outright disenfranchisement
<http://leanforward.msnbc.com/_news/2012/08/09/13205961-ohio-lawmaker-on-voting-restrictions-jim-crow-has-been-resurrected?lite>--
a hard argument to make in a state where people can start voting by
mail or at their local boards of elections five weeks before
Election Day.
So the first step toward fixing Ohio's election rules is for
everyone to lower their voices, put away the legal manifestos and
stop demonizing people with whom they have honest policy
disagreements. Then, let's listen to those who know what they're
talking about.
Start with the bipartisan professionals who have to carry out state
laws and directives at the 88 county boards of elections and at
individual voting centers; they know what works and what doesn't.
Legislators in Columbus should also enlist legal scholars ----and
look to national groups versed in best practices.
Four years ago, then-Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a
Democrat, summoned many of those practitioners to a post-election
summit that produced some thoughtful recommendations --- many of
which died on the partisan battlefield at the Statehouse. Her
successor, Republican Jon Husted, says he plans no such public
post-mortem, though he would be happy to help organize testimony
from "real watchdog groups" when the General Assembly next takes up
election law reform.
That's a big mistake. Husted should welcome a free-wheeling
discussion, including with those who criticized him.
The editorial also calls for making the SOS position nonpartisan and
getting rid of Tuesday as a single election day.
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off
"St. Lucie elections officials suspend recount; tally to continue at
8 a.m. Sunday" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44470>
Posted on November 17, 2012 8:08 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44470> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The latest
<http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/nov/17/st-lucie-county-recount-begin-saturday-morning/>
in the Allen West dispute.
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
recounts <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=50>, The Voting Wars
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off
"Barber wins hard-fought race against McSally"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44467>
Posted on November 17, 2012 7:50 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44467> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Arizona Republic
<http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/articles/20121116barber-wins-race-mcsally-arizona-district-2.html?fb_comment_id=fbc_376257695791516_2422391_376272765790009#f213a42012aa09>:
"The race for the 2nd Congressional District had been too close to call
for 10 days, but on Friday an Arizona Republic analysis determined that
McSally would not be able to muster enough votes from the remaining
uncounted ballots to surpass the thin lead Barber had held in recent days."
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
provisional ballots <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=67> | Comments Off
"Failed Amendments Suggest Lawmakers Knew Election Mess was Coming"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44464>
Posted on November 17, 2012 7:18 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44464> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Florida
<http://www.thebradentontimes.com/news/2012/11/17/state_government/failed_amendments_suggest_lawmakers_knew_election_mess_was_coming/>:
"Incoming Florida House Speaker *Will Weatherford*
<http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4399&SessionId=61>
has said they don't know what caused long lines, however, Weatherford
and his House Republican colleagues repeatedly fought back efforts
explicitly designed to curb the ill effects of their bill. Some
supporters of the law are instead blaming local Supervisors of Elections
for not being prepared, however, they failed to support amendments that
would have empowered the local SOE's to act."
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off
Election Data Services' Election Results Poster Shipping Soon
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44459>
Posted on November 17, 2012 6:29 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44459> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
It's just about that time <http://electiondataservices.com/>. (Here's
the order form <http://www.electiondataservices.com/order.pdf>.)
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Posted in Uncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1> | Comments Off
Updated Version of "A Constitutional Right to Lie in Campaigns and
Elections?" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44457>
Posted on November 17, 2012 6:27 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44457> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
I've posted an updated and revised version
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2151618> of this
paper, forthcoming in a /Montana Law Review/ election law symposium. The
main difference is that I've now expressed more skepticism about "truth
commissions" (as in Ohio) as effective means of dealing with false
campaign speech claims. [corrected link]
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Posted in campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59> | Comments Off
"Zero Votes for Romney, 'Dozens of Black' Voters Prompt Cries of
Voter Fraud" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44454>
Posted on November 17, 2012 6:21 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44454> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
ABC News reports.
<http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/votes-romney-dozens-black-voters-prompt-cries-voter/story?id=17730238#>
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off
Yet Another Story of Florida Election Incompetence as Allen West
Recount Gets New Life <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44451>
Posted on November 17, 2012 6:18 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44451> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
/Palm Beach Post/:
<http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/murphy-west-recount-debated-in-st-lucie-as-electio/nS8Xp/>"A
divided St. Lucie County canvassing board decided Friday night to
recount all 37,379 ballots from early voting in the tight congressional
race between Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West and Democrat Patrick
Murphy....West has not conceded and has sought a recount of early votes
after the St. Lucie County elections office admitted double-counting
some votes and ignoring others on election night....After Vaughn's
ruling, the canvassing board held a lengthy and at times heated meeting
in which elections officials revealed that 306 ballots had gone
uncounted and the attorney for St. Lucie County Elections Supervisor
Gertrude Walker announced that the elections chief was in the hospital."
Just imagine if the presidential race hinged on Florida. How many more
stories of missing and miscounted ballots would have emerged (beyond the
ones we've already heard about) if the fate of the presidency hinged on
the outcome?
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | 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
Now available: The Voting Wars: http://amzn.to/y22ZTv
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