[EL] ELB News and Commentary 2/13/13

Wed Feb 13 07:43:04 PST 2013

    "Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI Demands a Close Look at Rules of
    Modern Papal Election, Featured in Election Law Journal'
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47202>

Posted on February 13, 2013 7:37 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47202> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

See this press release 
<http://view.liebertpubmail.com/?j=fe6f17707767077e7516&m=ff281776736c&ls=fdda15737664057d7017737764&l=fe5915787762017b7310&s=fe2f107477650078701073&jb=ffcf14&ju=fe201775716d05787d1779&r=0> 
about an excellent article by Frederic Baumgartner on papal election 
rules appearing in the //Election Law Journal.

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

    "Obama's Record On Political Money One Of Ambivalence"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47200>

Posted on February 13, 2013 7:35 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47200> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NPR: 
<http://www.npr.org/2013/02/12/171837297/obamas-record-on-political-money-one-of-ambivalence>

    ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

    Something that President Obama is not likely to dwell on tonight is
    the feeble state of campaign finance laws. It was three years ago
    that he used the State of the Union to challenge the Supreme Court
    on its Citizens United decision, which encouraged more corporate
    money in politics. This year, though, he has his own tax-exempt
    social welfare group backed with corporate contributions to help
    advance his agenda. NPR's Peter Overby reports.

    PETER OVERBY, BYLINE: In 2010, President Obama gazed down at the
    justices and said that with all due deference...

    PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a
    century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special
    interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in
    our elections.

(APPLAUSE)...

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    More SCOTUSBlog Posts on Shelby County Case
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47198>

Posted on February 13, 2013 7:33 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47198> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Nina Perales 
<http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/02/shelby-county-v-holder-latino-voters-need-section-5-today-more-than-ever/>

Joshua Thompson 
<http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/02/shelby-county-v-holderforget-the-coverage-formula-what-about-the-effects-test/>

Christian Adams 
<http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/02/shelby-county-v-holderbad-behavior-by-doj-contributes-to-the-fall-of-section-5/>

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Posted in Supreme Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, Voting 
Rights Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15> | Comments Off

    More Reactions to the Bauer-Ginsberg Commission
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47195>

Posted on February 13, 2013 7:29 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47195> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Last night I shared my thoughts <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47191>on 
the announced new presidential commission on election reform.  Here are 
other reactions:

Doug Chapin 
<http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/electionacademy/2013/02/thoughts_on_the_new_presidenti.php>: 
"In one way, the decision to appoint a new Commission is a little 
puzzling, given the existence of the U.S. Election Assistance 
Commission; however, given the political limbo facing the EAC, the 
Administration may have decided that bypassing the appointment process 
via executive order was a way to get started on the process sooner than 
later. The choices to co-chair the Commission are very encouraging. Ben 
Ginsberg and Bob Bauer, while fierce advocates for their parties' 
interests, have a long history of cooperation with one another on 
projects in this field, including attempts to help the nation's judges 
bring some order to the often-messy process of election litigation. 
Hopefully, this will encourage policymakers on both sides of the aisle 
to look past what Election Law Blog's Rick Hasen calls 'the voting wars' 
and identify some solutions that can garner bipartisan support."

Josh Douglas 
<http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2013/02/election-law-and-compromise-reactions-to-president-obamas-election-commission.html>: 
"Several experts in the voting rights world have expressed concern that 
Obama is not going far enough to reform our election system...I 
disagree.  Election law is an area in which partisan motivations 
necessarily infiltrate any discussion of reforming our system.  It is 
therefore virtually impossible to effectuate widespread change on a 
bipartisan basis without first looking for smaller areas of compromise. 
  Small victories can lead to big victories.  Having Democrats and 
Republicans working together for more minor solutions can lay the 
foundation for the harder questions."

League of Women Voters: 
<http://www.lwv.org/press-releases/sotu-disappointed-president-obama-failed-call-bold-action-voting-rights>"[W]e 
were thus surprised and disappointed that the President did not suggest 
bold action to ensure that every American citizen can exercise the right 
to vote. Setting up a commission is not a bold step; it is business as 
usual. The President could have done much better by pointing to real 
solutions like that in legislation already introduced on Capitol Hill to 
require early voting, set limits on waiting times, provide for portable 
voter registration and set up secure online voter registration"

The Nation: 
<http://www.thenation.com/blog/172853/obama-appoints-controversial-gop-lawyer-voting-commission>"For 
over two decades, Ginsberg has been a top lawyer for the Republican 
Party---the same party, you may recall, that has led the effort to 
restrict voting rights 
<http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-gop-war-on-voting-20110830> 
of late. Ginsberg helped lead the 2000 recall effort for George W. Bush. 
He was forced to resign from the Bush campaign in 2004 after it was 
revealed that he was also advising the vile Swift Boat Veterans for 
Truth 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31867-2004Aug25.html>. 
In 2006, Ginsberg said 
<http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/04/07/157036/prosser-hires-bush-v-gore-recount-lawyer-who-claims-gop-opposes-equal-protection/>, 
'Just like really with the Voting Rights Act, Republicans have some 
fundamental philosophical difficulties with the whole notion of Equal 
Protection.' And in 2012, he was counsel to the Romney campaign when it 
absurdly claimed that the Obama campaign was trying to suppress military 
voters 
<http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/08/04/640491/romney-smears-obama-falsely-claims-he-filed-lawsuit-to-restrict-military-voting-in-ohio/> 
by pushing for early voting for all Ohioans. Does that sound like the 
kind of guy you want leading a "non-partisan" voting commission?"

National Review 
<http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/340560/state-confusion-voting-rights-hans-von-spakovsky>: 
"In any event, it is local governments that run polling places, hire 
precinct workers, and decide how many voting machines and registered 
voters to place in every polling site. Those decisions determine how 
long lines are on voting day. The vast majority of election officials do 
a good job at this, as demonstrated by the average wait time. Those who 
don't tend to be in large urban areas --- the cities controlled by the 
president's own party --- and they simply need to do a better job and 
put more resources into the administration of their elections. There is 
no mystery about how to do this, and the last thing we need is another 
federal commission led by campaign lawyers micromanaging elections and 
imposing one-size-fits-all policies on the entire country. Local 
election problems don't need to be federalized."

Yeah, about what you'd expect.

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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

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