[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/30/13

Wed Jan 30 07:54:21 PST 2013

    "Unions, Hollywood open to bankrolling Obama's advocacy arm"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46759>

Posted on January 30, 2013 7:52 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46759> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

/The Hill/ reports. 
<http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/280001-unions-hollywood-open-to-bankrolling-obama-group->

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    "FEC Increases Contribution Limits for 2014?
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46756>

Posted on January 30, 2013 7:46 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46756> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

/Roll Call/ 
<http://atr.rollcall.com/fec-increases-contribution-limits-for-2014/>reports 
<http://atr.rollcall.com/fec-increases-contribution-limits-for-2014/>.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    "Judicial Impartiality, Campaign Contributions, and Recusals:
    Results from a National Survey" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46751>

Posted on January 30, 2013 7:40 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46751> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Jim Gibson and Gregory Caldiera has posted this draft 
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2203215> on SSRN 
(/Journal of Empirical Legal Studies/). Here is the abstract:

    Legal scholars have of late become quite worried about how citizens
    form their impressions of the fairness of courts. This concern
    reflects the changing environments of courts, especially elected
    state courts, and what might generally be termed the politicization
    of the judiciary. The purpose of this article is to assess the
    effectiveness of judicial recusals at rehabilitating a court/judge
    tainted by perceived conflicts of interest associated with campaign
    activities by litigants. Based on an experimental design embedded in
    a nationally representative sample, our data first confirm that
    direct campaign contributions undermine perceptions of fairness;
    but, unexpectedly, so, too, does independent support for the
    candidate. Most important, recusal does indeed restore some
    perceived fairness; unfortunately, the repair to public perceptions
    is not to the level enjoyed when no conflict of interest exists. In
    a post-Citizens United world, these findings therefore point to
    significant threats to the legitimacy of elected state courts.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, 
judicial elections <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=19> | Comments Off

    "GOP's Electoral Vote Scheme Already On Life Support"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46749>

Posted on January 30, 2013 7:38 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46749> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

TPM 
<http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/01/electoral-college-reapportionment-congressional-districts-republicans.php>: 
"Four states down, and just two remain. Key Republican officials in 
Virginia, Ohio, Florida, and Michigan are coming out against a 
RNC-backed scheme to rig the electoral vote in Democratic-leaning states 
in order to boost Republican presidential candidates. That leaves just 
Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as the remaining blue states with Republican 
statehouses actively considering the idea."

End of the Democratic freak-out 
<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/01/republican_plans_for_electoral_college_reform_democrats_shouldn_t_worry.html>?

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Posted in electoral college <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44> | 
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    "More 'Fun' with Special Elections: Minnesota 19A Special Primary"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46746>

Posted on January 30, 2013 7:27 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46746> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

A Chapinblog 
<http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/electionacademy/2013/01/more_fun_with_special_election.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HHHElections+%28The+Election+Aacdemy%29>.

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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> | 
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    Will Democrats Support a Tea Party Primary Opponent Against Mitch
    McConnell? <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46743>

Posted on January 29, 2013 8:52 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46743> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Could be 
<http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/29/will-mcconnell-hold-on/?ref=politics>.

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Posted in campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, political parties 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, political polarization 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68>, primaries 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32> | Comments Off

    "No Pay? Little Sacrifice for Many in Congress"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46740>

Posted on January 29, 2013 8:49 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46740> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT reports. 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/us/politics/give-up-pay-many-lawmakers-would-feel-little-pain.html?ref=politics>

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

    "Rigging an Election Is Possible, But Trying to Rig an Electoral
    System Is a Fool's Errand" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46737>

Posted on January 29, 2013 8:41 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46737> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Martin Kich 
<http://academeblog.org/2013/01/26/rigging-an-election-is-possible-but-trying-to-rig-an-electoral-system-is-a-fools-errand/#more-2241> 
has written this post at the "Academe Blog."

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Posted in electoral college <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44> | 
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    "Why Congress Can't Seem to Get Anything Done"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46734>

Posted on January 29, 2013 8:13 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46734> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Wonkblog 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/01/26/why-congress-cant-seem-to-get-anything-done/> 
talks to my former Professor George Tsebelis about veto players.

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Posted in legislation and legislatures 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>, political polarization 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68> | Comments Off

    "Scholarship highlight: End of the Supreme Court-Congress dialogue?"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46731>

Posted on January 29, 2013 3:00 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46731> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I have posted the following piece 
<http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/01/scholarship-highlight-end-of-the-supreme-court-congress-dialogue/> 
on SCOTUSBlog.  It begins:

      Scholarship highlight: End of the Supreme Court-Congress dialogue?

    Political polarization in Congress seems to be affecting the
    relationship between Congress and the Supreme Court, inadvertently
    strengthening the Court at the expense of Congress. These days --
    unlike in the past -- Congress rarely overrides the Supreme Court's
    statutory decisions.  Yet the same congressional polarization that
    is strengthening the Court is likely to spill over into the Supreme
    Court nominations process, greatly increasing the risk of a Senate
    filibuster when the next conservative Justice leaves the Court.

    As I explain in End of the Dialogue: Political Polarization and
    Congress
    <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2130190>
    (forthcoming in /Southern California Law Review/) (and discussed
    further in this Adam Liptak /Sidebar /column
    <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/us/politics/supreme-court-gains-power-from-paralysis-of-congress.html?_r=0>
    in /The/ /New York Times/), a key premise of the Supreme Court's
    decision making is that it has a freer hand in interpreting the
    meaning of Congressional statutes than in deciding constitutional
    cases. The paths to overturning a constitutional ruling are nearly
    insurmountable (constitutional amendment or constitutional
    convention), but it takes only a simple act of Congress to reverse
    an errant Supreme Court statutory decision. Under this reasoning,
    the risk of Court error in statutory cases is not so great because
    Congress can override the Court when necessary. Indeed, a key 1991
    study of overrides
    <http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/3836/> by Yale
    professor William Eskridge found that Congressional overrides
    happened a lot more than people had thought.

    Eskridge was right to note the spike in congressional overrides
    beginning in the 1970s. But in the last two decades, the number of
    Congressional overrides has fallen off a cliff. While Congress
    overturned about twelve cases in every two-year congressional cycle
    from 1975-1990, by the 2001-12 period, the number had fallen to only
    2.8 cases per two-year Congressional period.

    <http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/01/scholarship-highlight-end-of-the-supreme-court-congress-dialogue/hasen-graphic-one/>

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Posted in Supreme Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29> | Comments Off

    "Audit of Gessler's expenses won't move forward"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46728>

Posted on January 29, 2013 1:20 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46728> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

News 
<http://www.gazette.com/articles/gessler-150341-move-audit.html>from 
Colorado: "An investigation into how Republican Secretary of State Scott 
Gessler uses his discretionary fund, prompted by travel to political 
events, won't move forward because lawmakers deadlocked Tuesday on 
whether to proceed."

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

    "Secretary of State Jon Husted and other Republicans say Electoral
    College changes not in store for Ohio"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46725>

Posted on January 29, 2013 12:26 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46725> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports 
<http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2013/01/secretary_of_state_jon_husted_2.html>.

Again, no surprise 
<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/01/republican_plans_for_electoral_college_reform_democrats_shouldn_t_worry.html>.

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Posted in electoral college <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44> | 
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    "How Young Should Voters Be?: 16-Year-Olds' Entitlement to the Most
    Basic Civil Right [Part V]" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46722>

Posted on January 29, 2013 11:05 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46722> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Vivian Hamilton 
<http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2013/01/how-young-should-voters-be-16-year-olds-entitlement-to-the-most-basic-civil-right-part-v.html>: 
"This is the last in a series of posts on the voting age."  This last 
post links to the first four posts in this series at Concurring Opinions.

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Posted in voting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=31> | Comments Off

    "Looking for Organizing for Action website? You've reached the NRA"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46718>

Posted on January 29, 2013 10:48 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46718> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The LA Times reports 
<http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-organizing-for-action-website-nra-20130129,0,3159504.story>.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, 
campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59> | Comments Off

    "Too Much for Toobin: Does Jeffrey Toobin Understand the Voting
    Rights Act?" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46715>

Posted on January 29, 2013 10:11 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46715> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Derek Muller blogs 
<http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2013/01/too-much-for-toobin-does-jeffrey-toobin-understand-the-voting-rights-act.html> 
at Prawfsblawg (via Jason Mazzone 
<http://balkin.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-two-toobins.html>, who---in my 
admittedly biased view---takes an undeserved swipe at /Slate/'s Supreme 
Court coverage).

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

    "Vote by Mail in Hawaii" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46712>

Posted on January 29, 2013 10:09 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46712> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

A Pew Data Dispatch 
<http://www.pewstates.org/research/analysis/vote-by-mail-in-hawaii-85899446591>.

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Posted in absentee ballots <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>, 
election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> | Comments Off

    "Record Ethics Board fines and repayments for Blondell Reynolds
    Brown" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46709>

Posted on January 29, 2013 10:07 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46709> by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

News from Philly 
<http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/city/20130129_xx_xx_xx_xx.html>.

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

    "What Democracy Lost in 2012? <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46705>

Posted on January 28, 2013 9:49 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46705> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Must read, long read from Bob Moser 
<http://prospect.org/article/what-democracy-lost-2012>in /The American 
Prospect/, with the subhead: "No matter the outcome, big money and voter 
suppression crippled the election. This is no way to run the world's 
oldest democracy."

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