[EL] ELB News and Commentary 9/6/12
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Thu Sep 6 09:37:02 PDT 2012
Garner Responds to Judge Posner on Posner's Critique of Justice
Scalia/Garner Book <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39705>
Posted on September 6, 2012 9:33 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39705> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Strong words <http://www.lawprose.org/blog/?p=570>.
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Posted in statutory interpretation <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=21>
| Comments Off
"Plan B on Citizens United?" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39703>
Posted on September 6, 2012 9:32 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39703> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Ruth Marcus /WaPo/ column.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ruth-marcus-do-democrats-have-a-plan-b-on-citizens-united/2012/09/04/f7547b5a-f6d6-11e1-8b93-c4f4ab1c8d13_story.html>
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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"Cost of legal fight over voter ID, redistricting tops $2 million"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39700>
Posted on September 6, 2012 9:27 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39700> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
News from Texas
<http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/headlines/20120905-cost-of-legal-fight-over-voter-id-redistricting-tops-2-million.ece>.
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Posted in Uncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1> | Comments Off
"Verdict is in: Obama levels more personal attacks"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39698>
Posted on September 6, 2012 9:26 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39698> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Politico reports.
<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/80810.html?hp=t1_3>
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Posted in campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59> | Comments Off
The Voting Wars Book Tour in New York, D.C., Chicago, and L.A. Next
2 Weeks <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39695>
Posted on September 6, 2012 9:24 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39695> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Upcoming dates on the book tour <http://thevotingwars.com/book-tour/>
for /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>/:
<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>
*September 10, 12 PM New York City*, 12 pm (Brennan Center for Justice)
(details and rsvp
<http://www.brennancenter.org/content/event/richard_l._hasen_visits_the_brennan_center_to_discuss_voting_wars/>)
*September 10, 7 PM Washington D.C.*, 6:30 pm (University of California
D.C. Center) (details and rsvp
<http://www.ucdc.edu/events/2012-09-10-223000/center-forum-rick-hasen>)
*September 12, 12 pm Chicago *(John Marshall Law School -- Chicago
American Constitution Society) (details and rsvp
<http://www.acslaw.org/VotingWars>)
*September 20, 7 pm Los Angeles*, 7:15 pm **(-part of panel program for
LA ALOUD) (details and RSVP
<http://www.lfla.org/event-detail/759/The-Voting-Wars-How-Do-We-Move-Beyond-Partisanship-and-Polarizationor-Should-We->)
Note that the Boston event has been postponed.
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Posted in The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> |
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"Judge Slammed for Delaying Ballot Appeal"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39693>
Posted on September 6, 2012 9:19 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39693> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Courthouse News Service reports
<http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/09/05/49968.htm>. My earlier
coverage of the Nevada "None of the Above" litigation is here
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39602>.
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Posted in alternative voting systems
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=63>, voting
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=31> | Comments Off
"Director's Note: Bad news and good news in 'The Silly Season'"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39691>
Posted on September 6, 2012 9:17 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39691> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Doug Chapin leads off this week's Electionline Weekly.
<http://www.electionline.org/index.php/electionline-weekly>
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off
"Feds OK Florida early voting plan for 5 counties"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39688>
Posted on September 6, 2012 9:12 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39688> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
AP
<http://www.wdbo.com/news/news/feds-ok-florida-early-voting-plan-5-counties/nR4fJ/>:
"U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder agreed Wednesday to accept Florida's
revised early-voting plan for five counties covered by the federal
Voting Rights Act. Holder filed his response with a three-judge panel in
Washington, D.C."
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Posted in Department of Justice <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>,
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voting
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=31>, Voting Rights Act
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15> | Comments Off
"Non-Retrogression, Equal Protection, and Ohio's Early Voting Case"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39685>
Posted on September 6, 2012 8:36 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39685> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Must-read Ned Foley column
<http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/comments/index.php?ID=9673>,
considering and fleshing out some of my earlier observations
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39463>about the case.
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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
"Super PAC appeal, give until it 'feels good'"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39682>
Posted on September 6, 2012 8:22 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39682> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The Center for Public Integrity reports.
<http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/09/05/10804/super-pac-appeal-give-until-it-feels-good>
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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"W.Va. SC hears public financing arguments"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39679>
Posted on September 6, 2012 8:19 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39679> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Legal Newsline reports.
<http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/237201-w.va.-sc-hears-public-financing-arguments>
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,
judicial elections <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=19> | Comments Off
"The Impact of Citizens United: The Role of Money in the 2012
Elections" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39676>
Posted on September 6, 2012 8:05 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39676> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Brad Smith and I will be discussing this topic at a forum at Northern
Illinois University <http://www.niu.edu/polisci/election2012/> on
September 12 at 7 pm---moderated by the excellent Matt Streb.
More information here
<http://www.niutoday.info/2012/09/05/niu-to-kick-off-lecture-series-featuring-national-political-experts-former-u-s-house-speaker/>.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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"Worried Democrats scramble to close fundraising gap with GOP"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39674>
Posted on September 6, 2012 8:03 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39674> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WaPo reports
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rahm-emanuel-to-raise-funds-for-democratic-campaigns/2012/09/05/956d2ae0-f758-11e1-8253-3f495ae70650_story.html>.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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"N.P.V.: Gore Comes Around" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39671>
Posted on September 6, 2012 8:01 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39671> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Hendrik Hertzberg blogs
<http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/hendrikhertzberg/2012/09/al-gore-voices-his-support-of-the-national-popular-vote-initiative.html#entry-more>
at /The New Yorker./
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Posted in electoral college <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44> |
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"The Small Donor Revolution: Empowering Citizens to Combat
Influence-Money in Politics " <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39668>
Posted on September 6, 2012 7:58 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39668> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Fred Wertheimer blogs
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fred-wertheimer/small-donors-money-in-politics_b_1828690.html>.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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"Democrats Lower Sights on Donors"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39665>
Posted on September 6, 2012 7:55 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39665> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Read Vogel <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/80816.html>.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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"Barack Obama Campaign Finance Reforms Fiddled While System
Crumbled" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39663>
Posted on September 6, 2012 7:54 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39663> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Must-read Paul Blumentha
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/06/barack-obama-campaign-finance_n_1855520.html>l.
I think he's exactly right on this one: "[Obama's] résumé gave hope to
supporters of campaign finance reform that the entrenched fundraising
and lobbying systems would finally face a sustained attack. If anything,
however, the opposite has happened. The four years of Obama's presidency
have featured some of the biggest rollbacks of the campaign finance
regulatory regime created in the wake of the Watergate scandal. And
Obama's own actions, or lack thereof, are partly to blame."
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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"Report: Half of military bases lack voting facility"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39660>
Posted on September 6, 2012 7:51 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39660> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The Washington Times reports.
<http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/sep/5/pentagon-report-us-bases-lack-voting-offices-troop/?page=1>
My earlier coverage (including a link to the IG report) is here
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39609>.
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Posted in military voting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=48>, voter
registration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37> | Comments Off
"Texas Republicans may inadvertently have saved Voting Rights Act"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39657>
Posted on September 6, 2012 7:48 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39657> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
This article
<http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/headlines/20120905-texas-republicans-may-inadvertently-have-saved-voting-rights-act.ece>
(which I linked to a few days ago with a protected link) is now
available for free from the /Dallas Morning News./
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Posted in voter id <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>, Voting Rights
Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15> | Comments Off
"Obama's Chance to Keep His Reform Promise"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39655>
Posted on September 6, 2012 7:47 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39655> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Lessig blogs
<http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/12/09/obamas-chance-to-keep-his-reform-promise/262009/#.UEi2RrutDEA.twitter>
atThe Atlantic.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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"Constitution Check: Is the constitutionality of voter ID laws
already settled?" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39652>
Posted on September 6, 2012 7:45 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39652> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Lyle Denniston reports
<http://news.yahoo.com/constitution-check-constitutionality-voter-id-laws-already-settled-100205689.html>
for the National Constitution Center.
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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
Federal Judge Orders Ohio SOS Husted to Personally Appear at Hearing
on Not Setting Early Voting Date <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39649>
Posted on September 5, 2012 2:38 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39649> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
How do you know when a judge is upset? When the order looks like this:
*Motion Hearing set for 9/13/2012 @ 10:00 AM before Senior Judge Peter C
Economus. The Court ORDERS that Defendant Secretary of State Jon Husted
personally attend the hearing. (jr1) *
My earlier coverage is here <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39636>, here
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39588> and here
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39463>.
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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
Rahm Sits Down with Nick Confessore and Talks About His Move to
Obama Super PAC <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39646>
Posted on September 5, 2012 1:40 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39646> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Check it out.
<http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/05/emanuel-to-raise-money-for-democratic-super-pac/?hp>
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> |
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Good News: The UCI Law Election Law Symposium Will Be Webcast and
Archived <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39643>
Posted on September 5, 2012 12:01 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39643> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Eventually the link to the webcast and archive will be here
<http://www.law.uci.edu/election_law_symposium_sept2012.html>.
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Posted in pedagogy <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=23> | Comments Off
"End of the Dialogue? Political Polarization, the Supreme Court, and
Congress" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39640>
Posted on September 5, 2012 11:56 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39640> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
I have just posted a revised and updated version
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2130190> of this
article (forthcoming /Southern California Law Review/) on SSRN. (The
article was recently the subject of this Adam Liptak "Sidebar" column
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/us/politics/supreme-court-gains-power-from-paralysis-of-congress.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>in
the /NY Times/.) Here is the revised abstract:
This Article considers the likely effects of continued political
polarization on the relative power of Congress and the Supreme
Court. Polarization already is leading to an increase the power of
the Court against Congress, whether or not the Justices
affirmatively seek that additional power. The governing model of
Congressional-Supreme Court relations is that the branches are in
dialogue on statutory interpretation: Congress writes federal
statutes, the Court interprets them, and Congress has the power to
overrule the Court's interpretations. The Court's interpretive rules
are premised upon this dialogic model, such as the rule that Supreme
Court statutory interpretation precedents are subject to 'super
strong' stare decisis protection because Congress can always correct
an errant court interpretation. Legislation scholars also write as
though congressional overriding remains common.
In fact, in the last two decades the rate of Congressional
overriding of Supreme Court statutory decisions has plummeted
dramatically, from an average of 12 overrulings of Supreme Court
cases in each two-year Congressional term during the 1975-1990
period to an average of 5.8 overrides for each term from 1991-2000
and to a mere 2.7 average number of overrides for each term from
2001-2012. Although some of the decline seems attributable to the
lower volume of Supreme Court statutory interpretation decisions,
the decline in overridings greatly outpaces this decline in cases.
Instead, partisanship seems to have strongly diminished the
opportunities for bipartisan overridings of Supreme Court cases, in
which Democrats and Republicans come together to reverse the Supreme
Court.
In its place we see a new, but rarer, phenomenon, partisan
overriding, which appears to require conditions of near-unified
control of both branches of Congress and the presidency. The two
recent examples are the Military Commissions Act of 2006, in which
Republicans overturned the Court's statutory interpretation decision
in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld on the habeas corpus rights of enemy
combatants, and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, in which
Democrats overturned the Court's statutory interpretation decision
in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company on how to measure the
statute of limitations period in certain employment discrimination
lawsuits. In a highly polarized atmosphere and with Senate rules
usually requiring 60 votes to change the status quo, the Court's
word on the meaning of statutes is now final almost as often as its
word on constitutional interpretation.
Although political polarization has benefited the Supreme Court's
power relative to Congress in the short term, the longer term power
relations are more uncertain. Aside from the statutory
interpretation dialogue, Congress interacts with the Supreme Court
in other ways, including through Senate confirmation of Supreme
Court judicial nominees. The recent partisan realignment of the
Supreme Court makes it more likely that a Supreme Court judicial
nominee will be filibustered in the Senate, thanks to the increasing
willingness of Senators to oppose nominees on ideological grounds
and increased partisan polarization in the Senate. The number of
Senators from the opposing party of the nominating president voting
against Supreme Court nominees is approaching or exceeding the
filibuster level. Depending upon how the politics plays out in a
possible filibuster of a Supreme Court judicial nominee, we may see
either an erosion of the use of the filibuster in the Senate or a
compromise which would weaken the power of the judiciary, such as
term limits imposed upon future Supreme Court Justices.
Part I of this Article demonstrates that despite the model of
Congress-Court dialogue, and Supreme Court statutory interpretation
tools premised on dialogue, congressional overridings of Supreme
Court statutory interpretation precedents have become exceedingly
rare. The effect of this change is to empower the Court over
Congress. Part II argues that the steep decline in overridings over
the last two decades appears due in large part to increased
polarization in Congress and not simply to a decline in the number
of Supreme Court statutory interpretation cases. When Congress does
override a Supreme Court case, it is now more likely to be a
partisan overriding, pushed through in periods of unified
government. Part III is more speculative. It considers how
polarization in Congress and the partisan realignment of the Supreme
Court --- a Court in which all the conservative Justices are
Republicans and all the liberal Justices are Democrats --- may
eventually lead to a major confrontation in Congress over the power
of the Senate filibuster. That confrontation may leave the Senate,
the Supreme Court, or both, looking very different than they are
today. Furthermore, partisan realignment has the potential to harm
the Supreme Court's legitimacy in a way which we have not witnessed
in modern times.
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Posted in legislation and legislatures
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>, political parties
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, political polarization
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68>, statutory interpretation
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=21>, Supreme Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29> | Comments Off
6th Circuit Sets Expedited Briefing Schedule in Ohio Early Voting
Case <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39636>
Posted on September 5, 2012 10:23 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39636> by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Via Election Law @ Moritz
<http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/litigation/ObamaForAmericaVHusted.php>,
comesthis order from the 6th Circuit
<http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/litigation/documents/OFAbriefingschedule.pdf>,
requiring briefing to be complete by Sept 21. I am wondering if OFA
will move to hold Husted in contempt for not complying
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=39588> with the district court's order,
which so far as I can tell has not been stayed.
UPDATE: OFA has filed a motion
<http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/litigation/documents/PlaintiffsMotiontoEnforcetheCourtsOrder.pdf>
which would more directly require SOS Husted to set early voting hours.
OFA did not raise the issue of contempt, apparently because the trial
court's initial order did not directly state that Husted must set these
hours.
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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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