[EL] ELB News and Commentary 11/15/13
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Thu Nov 14 20:52:42 PST 2013
"About as many people say they've been abducted by space aliens as
say they've committed voter fraud"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56771>
Posted on November 14, 2013 8:47 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56771>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The Monkey Cage:
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2013/11/14/about-as-many-people-say-theyve-been-abducted-by-space-aliens-as-say-theyve-committed-voter-fraud/>
One of the findings of a new working paper
<http://electionadmin.wisc.edu/AhlquistMayerJackmanVoct30.pdf> by
John Ahlquist, Kenneth R. Mayer
and Simon Jackman is that "the lower bound on the population
reporting voter impersonation is nearly identical with the
proportion of the population reporting abduction by
extraterrestrials." Roughly 2.5 percent of the population
effectively admit to one or the other. The rationale for this
comparison tells us a lot about how social scientists deal with
complex and touchy political issues.
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
"Assembly approves changes to voting hours, ID law"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56769>
Posted on November 14, 2013 8:40 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56769>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/assembly-kicks-off-tense-session-on-recalls-early-voting-hours-b99142673z1-231963621.html>"In
a late-night session Thursday, Republicans in the state Assembly
approved measures to reinstate Wisconsin's voter ID law, tighten early
voting hours and limit the ability to recall some elected officials.
They also took a first step toward amending the state constitution to
require members of the state Supreme Court to choose the chief justice,
rather than having that post automatically go to the most senior
justice....The measure [voter id] now goes to the Republican-run Senate,
where it faces an uncertain future. Senate Majority Leader Scott
Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) has said he doesn't want to make changes to the
voter ID law until he sees how more courts rule on the matter."
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
recall elections <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=11>, The Voting Wars
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>, Voting Rights Act
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
"Karl Rove-Backed Groups Raised $325 Million in 2012 Cycle"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56767>
Posted on November 14, 2013 3:05 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56767>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Big number.
<http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/11/14/karl-rove-backed-groups-raised-325-million-in-2012-cycle/?dsk=y>
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>
Debo Adegbile Nominated to Be Assistant AG for Civil Rights
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56765>
Posted on November 14, 2013 2:51 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56765>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
So reports Mary Orndorff Troyan
<https://twitter.com/orndorfftroyan/status/401118837388496896>.
Readers may recall that this top lawyer, who argued in NAMUDNO and
Shelby County, had been rumored <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=24649>for
a DC Circuit nomination that never came.
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Posted in Uncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
Tech, Training, and Tricks: Why We Should Expect a Good Deal More
than "Nothing" from the President's Commission
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56761>
Posted on November 14, 2013 11:29 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56761>by Heather Gerken
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=6>
Jonathan Bernstein has insisted that we should "expect nothing"
<http://plainblogaboutpolitics.blogspot.com/2013/11/why-i-expect-nothing-out-of-bauer.html> from
the president's electoral administration commission, headed by Bob Bauer
and Ben Ginsberg. It's not a bad prediction for any pundit, because
"nothing" is pretty much what we've been getting out of Washington for a
good long while. Moreover, I wasn't sure that anyone was more cynical
than I am about the possibility of election reform, so it's nice to have
company. As I've written elsewhere
<http://www.amazon.com/The-Democracy-Index-Election-Failing/dp/0691136947>,
getting "from here to there" with election reform is incredibly
difficult in the current political climate. Nonetheless, I think that
Bernstein is wrong and that it's worth saying why. (In the interest of
full disclosure, I should note that I have occasionally been asked by
the commission to provide technical expertise and, like most of the
people in my field, know and respect both Bauer and Ginsberg).
Your view of the commission will depend on what you think it's realistic
to expect on the reform front. Bernstein, much to his credit, candidly
admits that he wasn't sure
<http://plainblogaboutpolitics.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-disappointing-voting-initiative.html>
what President Obama should have done in the wake of the 2012 election.
He suggests that Obama should have pushed for legislation in the hope of
slipping it into an omnibus bill, although he ruefully admits it
"probably would have died." (On that prediction, I'd just omit the
"probably.") Or perhaps, says Bernstein, Obama should have pushed to
draft "model legislation" for the states. (This doesn't strike me as
any more likely to succeed; it's hard to see why state legislators will
pass meaningful reform given that they are no less self-interested than
members of Congress.) Bernstein nonetheless thinks that a dead bill
that squeaked through the Senate or model legislation for the states
will do more to reform our system than the president's commission will.
If this were yet-another commission pronouncing on the deep systemic
reforms we need (or, worse, trotting out the liberals' list of pet
reform projects), I'd be with Bernstein. I'd be even gloomier than
Bernstein, actually. But Bernstein either isn't paying enough attention
to the structure of the commission or doesn't realize how much good a
commission structured in this fashion can do.
As Bernstein astutely points out,
<http://plainblogaboutpolitics.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-disappointing-voting-initiative.html>
this commission doesn't look like it's structured to "cut a deal" on
election reform. To my eyes, it doesn't even look like it's structured
to propose Bernstein's "strong" federal bill or his model legislation
for the states. I assume we aren't going to see some substantial
compromise proposal on the hot-button issues of the day. And with good
reason. In the current political climate, there is no grand bargain to
be had. I don't care who is on the commission or who is sponsoring
Bernstein's proposed legislation. The votes aren't there.
The Commission /is/, however structured to get something done. It's a
commission filled with highly respected election administrators and
Fortune 500 CEOs. No representatives of "the groups," no office
holders, no academics, no political types save Bauer and Ginsberg. What
can a commission like that do?
It can get something done. I've spent a great deal of time working with
election administrators under the auspices of the Pew Foundations, which
has turned my proposal for a Democracy Index
<http://www.law.yale.edu/faculty/democracyindex.htm> into a reality.
<http://www.pewstates.org/research/reports/elections-performance-index-85899445029>
That work really brought home the lesson familiar to anyone familiar who
understands the root causes of the lines we saw in 2008 and 2012:
election administrators are doing an extraordinarily hard job with
extraordinarily few resources. Many lack the planning expertise and
technical support they need to do the job we've assigned them. Some
don't have the tech, some don't have the training, and some don't know
the tricks necessary to deal with the administrative problems they
face. They lack, in short, the tools and knowledge possessed by . . .
that's right, Fortune 500 CEOs.
Having a problem with lines? Maybe you should talk to Brian Britton, a
top executive at Disney. Struggling to do the short- and long-range
planning necessary to predict voter turnout, allocate staff and
machines, and use what resources you have wisely? Maybe you should talk
to Joe Echevarria, the CEO of Deloitte. Election administrators
routinely encounter an endless number of technical, nuts-and-bolts
problems. Election administrators don't need a grand bargain. They need
small, pragmatic solutions. They need more technical capacity. They
need, in short, the knowledge and capacity that Fortune 500 companies
possess.
And, lo and behold, guess who's on the commission
<https://www.supportthevoter.gov/the-commission/>? The election
administrators who know the must about the nuts-and-bolts problems of
election administration and the Fortune 500 CEOs who know the most about
solving those kinds of problems. I would expect a commission structured
in this way to offer low-key, deeply pragmatic, easily implemented, and
assiduously nonpartisan proposals for making our election system work.
I would expect a commission like that to begin the important task of
getting the technical tools and business know-how to the election
administrators who desperately need it. That's a nonpolitical solution,
but it's also a cure for at least some of what ails our politics.
Progressives are likely to be disappointed in such an outcome. They
want nationally mandated standards. They want the states to pass model
legislation. They want a solution to the voter ID fight. They want a
lot of things that are never going to happen in this political climate.
But they ought to appreciate what a commission like this /can/ do. To
the extent we've seen any meaningful election reform during the last few
years, most of it has come from capacity-building efforts like the Pew
Foundations' efforts to improve the voter-registration process through
its ERIC project
<http://www.pewstates.org/research/featured-collections/electronic-registration-information-center-eric-85899426022>
or Doug Chapin's tireless efforts at the University of Minnesota
"Election Academy" <http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/electionacademy/> to
raise the level of professionalization among election administrators.
None of this work is glamorous. It's the type of technocratic work one
expects from CPAs, not civil rights crusaders. It's not the stuff of
reporter's dreams. It's not the stuff of /anyone's/ dreams. But it
matters.
Having watched two presidential elections from the Obama campaign's
Boiler Room, I've become convinced that if you care about the rights of
voters, you should focus as much on what business school teaches us as
what the Constitution teaches us. Sometimes, a well-run, properly
administered election system is a civil-rights solution. If the
commission helps us get even a little bit closer to a well-run, properly
administered system, that's a victory in my book. At the very least, it
ain't "nothing."
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Posted in Uncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1> | Tagged
Bernstein <http://electionlawblog.org/?tag=bernstein>, election
administration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?tag=election-administration>, presidential
commission <http://electionlawblog.org/?tag=presidential-commission>
"Koch-backed nonprofit spent record cash in 2012?
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56762>
Posted on November 14, 2013 11:23 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56762>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
CPI
<http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/11/14/13712/koch-backed-nonprofit-spent-record-cash-2012>:
Americans for Prosperity
<https://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/06/21/9170/nonprofit-profile-americans-prosperity>
--- the main political arm of billionaire industrialist brothers
Charles and David Koch --- spent a staggering $122 million last year
as it unsuccessfully attempted to defeat President Barack Obama and
congressional Democrats, according to a Center for Public Integrity
<http://www.publicintegrity.org> review of documents filed
<http://www.scribd.com/doc/184187552/Americans-for-Prosperity-Summary-Information>
in Colorado.
That's more than the total amount the group had previously spent
from its formation in 2004 through 2011. During its previous eight
years of existence, Americans for Prosperity spent a combined $72
million, a review of Internal Revenue Service records indicates.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>
"In Voter ID Trial, State Witness Says Similar Georgia Law Depressed
White Turnout Most" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56758>
Posted on November 14, 2013 9:43 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56758>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Wisconsin Public Radio reports
<http://news.wpr.org/post/voter-id-trial-state-witness-says-similar-georgia-law-depressed-white-turnout-most>.
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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>, Voting Rights Act
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
"Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 Document Repeated Rejection
by Courts of Legal Assault on Disclosure Laws in Letter Sent to
Members of Congress" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56756>
Posted on November 14, 2013 9:33 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56756>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
In a letter sent today to members of Congress
<http://www.democracy21.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/LETTER-TO-HSE-AND-SENATE-ON-COURTS-REJECTING-CHALLENGES-TO-DISCLOSURE-FINAL-11-1-3-13.pdf>,
the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 challenged the claims by
disclosure opponents that campaign finance disclosure laws are
unconstitutional violations of First Amendment free speech rights.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
"How Twitter changed the Virginia AG election"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56754>
Posted on November 14, 2013 9:32 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56754>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Chuck Todd
<http://www.msnbc.com/the-daily-rundown/watch/how-twitter-changed-the-virginia-ag-election-63587907818>
talks to Dave Wasserman.
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
provisional ballots <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=67>, recounts
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=50>, The Voting Wars
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
"Transparency for Thee, None for Me"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56752>
Posted on November 14, 2013 8:05 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56752>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Washington Free Beacon
<http://freebeacon.com/transparency-for-thee-none-for-me/>:
A state affiliate of a network of liberal groups that does not
disclose its donors attacked a network of state-based conservative
groups on Wednesday for an alleged lack of transparency.
The attacks followed the release of a series of reports on the State
Policy Network (SPN), a group of state-based free market think
tanks. Liberal groups ProgressNow and the Center for Media and
Democracy (CMD) produced the reports.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
"Judge dismisses voter fraud case in Tuscaloosa school board
election" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56750>
Posted on November 14, 2013 8:02 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56750>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
End of the line
<http://www.myfoxal.com/story/23964364/judge-dismisses-voter-fraud-case-in-tuscaloosa-school-board-election>
for this case?
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Posted in chicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>
Wisconsin Republicans Try to Ease Voter ID Restrictions as Federal
Court Considers Whether Current Law Violates the Voting Rights Act
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56748>
Posted on November 14, 2013 8:01 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56748>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Interesting
<http://www.cbs58.com/morning-news/stories/State-lawmakers-to-take-up-voter-fraud-231882361.html>.
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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>
"'Purged' voter's experience raises questions"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56746>
Posted on November 14, 2013 7:53 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56746>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Interesting case stud
<http://www.roanoke.com/news/dancasey/2373911-12/purged-voters-experience-raises-questions.html>y
from Va.
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
provisional ballots <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=67>, The Voting
Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
"Elefino (cont.): Did Voter ID Cause Low Texas Turnout?"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56743>
Posted on November 14, 2013 7:46 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56743>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
A ChapinBlog
<http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/electionacademy/2013/11/did_voter_id_cause_low_texas_t.php>.
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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>, Voting Rights Act
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
"Groups Mobilize to Aid Democrats in '14 Data Arms Race"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56741>
Posted on November 14, 2013 7:45 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56741>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/15/us/politics/groups-mobilize-to-aid-democrats.html?hp&_r=0>:
Liberal and Democratic-leaning groups, facing a difficult midterm
election next year without the technological muscle of the Obama
campaign behind them, are preparing a major effort to improve their
data infrastructure.
George Soros, the retired hedge fund billionaire and longtime patron
of liberal causes, will invest $2.5 million in the effort, officials
involved with the plan said. His participation is a signal that some
of the wealthy donors who arrived late to the Democrats' "super PAC"
efforts in 2012 are committing early for the next round.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
"Bring Me a Case" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56738>
Posted on November 13, 2013 9:41 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=56738>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Linda Greenhouse
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/14/opinion/bring-me-a-case.html?pagewanted=2&hp&rref=opinion>
on how Justices issue "invitations" to litigants to get cases to the
Supreme Court.
I tacked this same issue recently in *Anticipatory Overrulings,
Invitations, Time Bombs, and Inadvertence: How Supreme Court Justices
Move the Law
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1750398>, 61 /Emory
Law Journal/ 779 (2012).*
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Posted in Supreme Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
--
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://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org
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