[EL] ELB News and Commentary 4/3/13

Wed Apr 3 08:43:57 PDT 2013

    "Political Dysfunction and Constitutional Change"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48977>

Posted on April 3, 2013 8:39 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48977> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I have just postedthis draft 
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2243798> on SSRN, a 
paper for the Drake Law School symposium 
<http://www.law.drake.edu/academics/conLaw/?pageID=symposium13> I'll be 
speaking at on Saturday. Here is the abstract:

    This Essay was prepared for a symposium at Drake Law School on "The
    U.S. Constitution and Political Dysfunction: Is There a Connection?"
    Signs of political dysfunction abound in the United States
    government. Perhaps the best illustration is the ongoing fight over
    the U.S. budget, the national debt, and tax and entitlement reform ,
    which has led to extraordinary (and so far unsuccessful) efforts to
    resolve legislative stalemate including the "super committee" and
    the sequester. The source of these deadlocks over budget reform is
    hardly a mystery: it is the mismatch between highly ideological
    political parties and our divided form of government which makes
    passing legislation difficult even in the absence of partisan
    deadlock. The partisanship of our political branches and mismatch
    with our structure of government raise this fundamental question: Is
    the United States political system so broken that we should change
    the United States Constitution to adopt a parliamentary system
    either a Westminster system as in the United Kingdom or a different
    form of parliamentary democracy? Such a move toward unified
    government would allow the Democratic or Republican parties to act
    in a unified way to pursue a rational plan on budget reform on other
    issues. Voters could then hold the party in power accountable if the
    programs its pursued were against voter preferences. It seems a more
    logical way to organize politics and insure that each party will
    have a chance to present its platform to the voters, to have that
    platform enacted, and to allow voters at the next election to pass
    on how well the party has managed the country. But changing the
    Constitution is a big deal.Even if a sense of national crisis and
    paralysis allowed an opening for parliamentary constitutional
    change, we should not lightly change the fundamental rules of our
    governance. There is a value to our constitutional tradition. Change
    can have unintended consequences. The country has weathered many
    crises under our existing form of government, and tinkering with
    long-term success, even given profound recent dysfunction, can be
    dangerous.
    In this Essay, I briefly examine four arguments against making
    constitutional change to deal with current political dysfunction.
    The first two arguments contend that the current governmental system
    is not that dysfunctional. First, the current political stalemate
    may reflect the preferences of the median voter or the public at
    large. Second, the current political system actually produces a good
    amount of legislation, and a parliamentary democracy might produce
    too much rash legislation. The third argument accepts the premise
    that the current system is dysfunctional, but contends the
    dysfunction could be cured by sub-constitutional change, such as
    eliminating the filibuster or adopting additional open primary
    systems to produce more moderate candidates. The fourth argument
    also accepts the premise that the current system is dysfunctional,
    but sees that dysfunction as temporary, and expects dysfunction to
    be self-correcting as voters reject the current Republican Party far
    from the median voter, leading the Republican Party, and then
    Democrats, to move to the center. Evidence supporting the first
    three of the arguments against constitutional reform is conflicting
    and somewhat weak, but that the fourth argument is plausible and
    hard to evaluate in the midst of a potentially transformative era.
    We are in the middle of a highly partisan moment in American history
    but it is hard to know how long it will last. I conclude it is worth
    waiting to see if the political system self-corrects, especially
    given the risks of tinkering with the constitutional system and the
    value of not changing our constitutional traditions lightly. Given
    current political dysfunction which would block a move toward a
    parliamentary democracy in any case, waiting not only prudent but
    unavoidable.

Comments welcome!

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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> | Comments Off

    "Senate bill seeks to curb college vote"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48974>

Posted on April 3, 2013 8:28 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48974> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WRAL 
<http://www.wral.com/senate-bill-seeks-to-curb-college-vote/12298695/>: 
"A bill filed in the state Senate Tuesday would carry a tax penalty for 
parents whose children register to vote at their college address. Senate 
Bill 667, 
<http://ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2013&BillID=S667> 
'Equalize Voter Rights,' would remove the tax exemption for dependents 
who register to vote at any address other than their parents' home."

I expect we will hear more about this.

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

    "Felony Charges Dropped Against Colin Small, Republican Accused Of
    Destroying Voter Registration Forms"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48972>

Posted on April 3, 2013 8:26 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48972> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Important HuffPo report: 
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/02/colin-small-voter-fraud_n_3001802.html?utm_hp_ref=tw>"Eight 
felony charges against Colin Small, the Republican contractor accused of 
destroying voter registration forms, were dismissed by a Virginia judge 
on Tuesday. The judge dismissed the felony charges under a probable 
cause standard during a preliminary hearing, Small's lawyer 
said....'Coincidentally, my client was in charge of being a Republican 
vote-drive guy, and in my conversations with the Commonwealth, they 
confirmed that all of the eight persons were Republican Mitt Romney 
supporters,' Holloran said. 'So it made absolutely no sense that a guy 
that's trying to corral Republican votes would dump Republican votes.'"

You will recall that some Democrats made a big deal of this incident as 
part of a large conspiracy to destroy Democrats' voter registration forms.

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Posted in chicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election 
administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off

    "Scott Mooneyham: Absentee ballots and voter fraud"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48969>

Posted on April 3, 2013 8:22 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48969> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Interesting column 
<http://www.salisburypost.com/article/20130402/SP05/130409919/1012/scott-mooneyham-absentee-ballots-and-voter-fraud>:

    For the last two years, a substantial investigation has been
    underway in North Carolina into allegations of real voter fraud, the
    kind that can turn an election.

    You don't hear much about it in Raleigh or in the state Legislative
    Building. After all, this alleged fraud doesn't fit very well into
    the narrative that North Carolina needs a voter photo ID requirement
    in order to prevent fraud.

    The SBI investigation, looking into the 2010 Yancey County sheriff's
    race, is centered on allegations that jail inmates had their charges
    reduced around the same time that they filled out mailed-in absentee
    ballots witnessed and provided by sheriff's deputies. Those ballots,
    of course, would not require a photo ID.

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Posted in absentee ballots <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>, 
chicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off

    "If true, state Sen. Malcolm Smith's scheme to buy Republican mayor
    ticket may be one of the most boneheaded plots in crooked New York
    politics" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48967>

Posted on April 3, 2013 8:21 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48967> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The NY Daily News reports. 
<http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/gonzalez-smith-alleged-bribery-scheme-dumbest-crooked-plans-history-article-1.1306180>  
My earlier coverage is here <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48921>.

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Posted in Uncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1> | Comments Off

    "Senate' elections bill nearing floor vote"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48962>

Posted on April 3, 2013 8:12 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48962> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The latest 
<http://politics.nsfblogs.com/2013/04/03/senate-elections-bill-nearing-floor-vote/>on 
Florida's attempt to expand early voting.

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

    "D.C. Circuit Rules for Watchdog Group In FOIA Lawsuit Seeking FEC
    Documents" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48960>

Posted on April 3, 2013 8:10 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48960> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Bloomberg BNA 
<http://news.bna.com/mpdm/MPDMWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=30293066&vname=mpebulallissues&jd=a0d7d0d4k2&split=0>: 
"The Federal Election Commission violated the Freedom of Information Act 
in responding too slowly to a FOIA request from a watchdog group asking 
about contacts between FEC commissioners and people outside the agency, 
according to an April 2 ruling 
<http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/D7851114413F05BC85257B41004D7CC6/$file/12-5004-1428419.pdf> 
by a federal appeals court (CREW v. FEC, D.C. Cir., No. 12-5004, 4/2/13)."

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Posted in federal election commission 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24> | Comments Off

    "The Hits Keep Coming: NYCBOE Criticized for Election Day
    Overstaffing" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48958>

Posted on April 3, 2013 8:08 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48958> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

A ChapinBlog 
<http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/electionacademy/2013/04/the_hits_keep_coming_nycboe_cr.php>.

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

    Lesterland <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48955>

Posted on April 3, 2013 8:07 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48955> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Larry (Lester) Lessig has posted "Institutional Corruptions 
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2233582>" on SSRN, 
his latest on what he terms dependence corruption.

I have not yet had a chance to read this new paper, but I respond to his 
other recent work in this area in Is 'Dependence Corruption' Distinct 
from a Political Equality Argument for Campaign Finance Laws? A Reply to 
Professor Lessig 
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2233582>. My reply 
includes a section entitled "Lesters are People Too, My Friend."

UPDATE: And now there's a TED talk 
<http://www.ted.com/talks/lawrence_lessig_we_the_people_and_the_republic_we_must_reclaim.html> 
and Lesterland e-book 
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C3LLYM2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00C3LLYM2&linkCode=as2&tag=youwonnowwhat> 
as well.

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

    "As Obama begins fundraising swing, campaign finance watchdogs
    growl" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48952>

Posted on April 3, 2013 8:00 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48952> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo reports. 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-obama-begins-fundraising-swing-campaign-finance-watchdogs-growl/2013/04/02/a4af5020-9bbb-11e2-9a79-eb5280c81c63_story.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

    "Obama Labor Pick's Immigration Advocacy Tests Republicans"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48949>

Posted on April 3, 2013 7:58 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48949> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Bloomberg 
<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-03/obama-labor-pick-s-immigration-advocacy-tests-republicans.html?alcmpid=politics> 
on Tom Perez.

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Posted in Department of Justice <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26> | 
Comments Off

    "Patience Roggensack defeats Edward Fallone for second term on state
    Supreme Court" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48946>

Posted on April 3, 2013 7:55 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48946> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/patience-roggensack-defeats-edward-fallone-for-second-term-on-state-supreme-court-r99c59d-201148441.html>: 
"Roggensack's victory gives her a second 10-year term on the bench and 
preserves the court's conservative majority. On the most controversial 
issues and cases in recent years, the court has often split 4-3, with 
Roggensack in the majority."

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Posted in judicial elections <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=19>, 
political parties <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, political 
polarization <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68> | Comments Off

    "Can Obama's new panel defuse the voting wars?"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48943>

Posted on April 2, 2013 1:19 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48943> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

MSNBC reports 
<http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/04/02/can-obamas-new-panel-defuse-the-voting-wars/>.

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

    "IRS and Questionnaires: What 501(c)(4)s Need to Know"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48940>

Posted on April 2, 2013 10:34 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48940> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AFJ blogs 
<http://bolderadvocacy.org/blog/irs-and-questionnaires-what-501c4s-need-to-know>.

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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

    "Section 5 Discriminates Against Texas"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48937>

Posted on April 2, 2013 8:04 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48937> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Texas SG Greg Abbott has writtenthis oped 
<http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/Section-5-discriminates-against-Texas-4392872.php?cmpid=twitter>.

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Posted in Department of Justice <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>, 
Supreme Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, The Voting Wars 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, Voting Rights Act 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15> | 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

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