[EL] ELB News and Commentary 9/17/13
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Mon Sep 16 21:30:36 PDT 2013
"Poll: Voter ID popular, other election changes less so"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55317>
Posted on September 16, 2013 9:24 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55317>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
News
<http://www.news-record.com/news/local_news/article_edc1b6c2-1f1e-11e3-b7b5-001a4bcf6878.html>from
North Carolina: "Requiring a photo ID at the polls is popular with North
Carolinians, but other voting regulations Republicans put into an
elections overhaul bill earlier this year don't fare nearly as well,
according to a High Point University/News & Record poll conducted last
week."
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D55317&title=%E2%80%9CPoll%3A%20Voter%20ID%20popular%2C%20other%20election%20changes%20less%20so%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
"Kansas won't require citizenship proof for driver's license
renewals" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55315>
Posted on September 16, 2013 9:20 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55315>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
AP
<http://cjonline.com/news/2013-09-16/kansas-wont-require-citizenship-proof-drivers-license-renewals>:
"Kansas no longer plans to require people renewing driver's licenses to
produce proof that they are living in the U.S. legally, Revenue
Secretary Nick Jordan said Monday, confirming a policy shift with
implications for the state's administration of a separate
proof-of-citizenship requirement for new voters."
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D55315&title=%E2%80%9CKansas%20won%E2%80%99t%20require%20citizenship%20proof%20for%20driver%E2%80%99s%20license%20renewals%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
"'Citizens' Ruling Spurred Fears at IRS of Tea-Party Challenge"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55313>
Posted on September 16, 2013 9:17 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55313>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WSJ
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324755104579073504238039662.html>:
"Internal Revenue Service officials worried that tea-party groups would
challenge tax-code restrictions on political activity in the wake of a
2010 Supreme Court decision on campaign spending, according to recently
disclosed emails on the agency's scrutiny of conservative groups."
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D55313&title=%E2%80%9C%E2%80%98Citizens%E2%80%99%20Ruling%20Spurred%20Fears%20at%20IRS%20of%20Tea-Party%20Challenge%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>
"Amid Revolt Over Fiscal 'Gimmicks,' Options Dwindle for G.O.P."
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55311>
Posted on September 16, 2013 8:08 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55311>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT:
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/us/politics/amid-revolt-over-fiscal-gimmicks-options-dwindle-for-gop.html?ref=politics>
For three years, Congressional leaders have relied on tactical
maneuvers, sleights of hand and sheer gimmickry to move the nation
from one fiscal crisis to the next --- with little strategy to deal
with the actual problems at hand. Medicare
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/medicare/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>
and Social Security
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/social_security_us/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>
continue to swell with an aging population. Health care costs grow.
A burdensome tax code remains unchanged, and economic revival is
shadowed by the specter of Washington's crisis-driven mismanagement.
Now, with a government shutdown looming at month's end and a
crippling default on the nation's debt possible by mid-October,
Congressional leaders may have run out the string on legislative
trickery. Conservative Republicans in the House have declared they
will not go along with any more gimmickry from their leadership.
Democrats have vowed they will not help Republican leaders out of
their jam without some easing of spending cuts. And a way forward
--- to keep the government operating and solvent, and to protect the
international economy from a default-driven shock wave --- is
nowhere to be found as the House is set to vote this week on a
stopgap spending plan.
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D55311&title=%E2%80%9CAmid%20Revolt%20Over%20Fiscal%20%E2%80%98Gimmicks%2C%E2%80%99%20Options%20Dwindle%20for%20G.O.P.%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in legislation and legislatures
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>, political parties
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, political polarization
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68>
NYT Editorial: NYC Board of Elections a "Disgrace," Needs
Replacement with Professionals <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55309>
Posted on September 16, 2013 7:56 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55309>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT Ed
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/opinion/thompson-bows-out.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>:
In leaving the race, Mr. Thompson called the board's failure to
deliver official results nearly a week after the vote a "disgrace."
He's right, though its incompetence is hardly a surprise. This was
the election, after all, where more than 5,000 antique lever-action
voting machines had to be dragged out of storage because the board
knew it couldn't get optical-scanning machines ready for a possible
runoff. The board, whose members are appointed by county leaders of
both parties, is a patronage-riddled agency with one job, which it
does very poorly. Last Friday, workers were caught snoozing among
the voting machines
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/14/nyregion/as-vote-verification-begins-thompson-stays-hopeful.html>
they were supposed to be rechecking.
The most appealing solution is just to abolish the board, as Mayor
Michael Bloomberg has urged for years, and to replace it with a
nonpartisan body of skilled professionals. But that would require
rewriting the State Constitution, which the Legislature would resist.
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D55309&title=NYT%20Editorial%3A%20NYC%20Board%20of%20Elections%20a%20%E2%80%9CDisgrace%2C%E2%80%9D%20Needs%20Replacement%20with%20Professionals&description=>
Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
FEC: Stop Stop Pelosi PAC <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55306>
Posted on September 16, 2013 7:45 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55306>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
CPI
<http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/09/16/13427/legal-fight-brewing-over-stop-pelosi-pac>.
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D55306&title=FEC%3A%20Stop%20Stop%20Pelosi%20PAC&description=>
Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal
election commission <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>
Nevada is Not Like Colorado---Recall Edition
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55304>
Posted on September 16, 2013 7:42 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55304>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Gun rights supporters
<http://recallelections.blogspot.com/2013/09/nevada-attempt-to-recall-state-senator.html>might
have a tougher time in Nevada.
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D55304&title=Nevada%20is%20Not%20Like%20Colorado%E2%80%94Recall%20Edition&description=>
Posted in recall elections <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=11>
"New York's Campaign-Finance Law Worked, but New Yorkers Still Won't
Celebrate It" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55302>
Posted on September 16, 2013 7:41 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55302>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Mark Schmitt:
<http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114737/campaign-finance-laws-new-york-elections>
The rise of outside money in New York campaigns is indeed a concern,
and could ultimately undermine the public-financing system, which is
finally gaining recognition as a model for reform at the state and
federal level that puts a higher priority on encouraging small
donors than restricting big ones, and that seems likely to withstand
constitutional challenge.
But let's put this new spending in perspective. Thanks to the city's
excellent disclosure requirements, we know that about $12.7 million
<http://www.nyccfb.info/VSApps/WebForm_Finance_Independent.aspx?as_election_cycle=2013>
was spent by independent groups in the primaries, with almost $5
million of that total coming from Jobs for New York, the real estate
group. A total of $105 million, in public and private money
combined, was spent by candidates themselves, the vast majority of
whom were abiding by voluntary spending limits. That is, about one
dollar in ten came through an outside group. By contrast, in the
2012 U.S. Senate races, outside groups spent about half as much as
candidates, even though none of the candidates were subject to
spending limits, and a study
<http://www.cfinst.org/Press/PReleases/12-11-09/Early_Post-Election_Look_at_Money_in_the_House_and_Senate_Elections_of_2012.aspx>
by the Campaign Finance Institute shortly after the election
indicated that in contested House and Senate races -- those decided
by 55% or less -- outside groups spent about the same amount as
candidates. In some state-level elections, such as in North Carolina
<http://www.southernstudies.org/2013/01/big-money-in-nc-outside-groups-unleashed-145-milli.html>,
outside spending exceeds the amounts spent by candidates.
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D55302&title=%E2%80%9CNew%20York%E2%80%99s%20Campaign-Finance%20Law%20Worked%2C%20but%20New%20Yorkers%20Still%20Won%E2%80%99t%20Celebrate%20It%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
"California lawmakers got a lot done in the last session"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55300>
Posted on September 16, 2013 7:34 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55300>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
George Skelton in LA Times
<http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-cap-legislature-20130916,0,4346178,full.column>
says its looser term limits, top two, and nonpartisan redistricting.
I'm not at all so sure that's the explanation.
More like: Democrats have a large enough majority in the CA legislature
that they do not need to compromise with Republicans.
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D55300&title=%E2%80%9CCalifornia%20lawmakers%20got%20a%20lot%20done%20in%20the%20last%20session%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in citizen commissions <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=7>,
political parties <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, primaries
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32>, redistricting
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>
"Germantown woman pleads guilty to 2012 voter fraud; Linda Earlette
Wells pretended to be her mother, who had died"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55298>
Posted on September 16, 2013 7:21 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55298>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Another isolated
<http://www.gazette.net/article/20130913/NEWS/130919454/1007/germantown-woman-pleads-guilty-to-2012-voter-fraud&template=gazette>,
boneheaded, impersonation attempt.
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D55298&title=%E2%80%9CGermantown%20woman%20pleads%20guilty%20to%202012%20voter%20fraud%3B%20Linda%20Earlette%20Wells%20pretended%20to%20be%20her%20mother%2C%20who%20had%20died%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in chicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election
administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
"Club for Growth takes aim at Obamacare as it continues to take on
GOP from the right" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55284>
Posted on September 16, 2013 7:15 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55284>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Extensive and important/WaPo/ report
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/club-for-growth-takes-aim-at-obamacare-as-its-continues-to-take-on-gop-from-the-right/2013/09/14/4626f0fa-1c65-11e3-82ef-a059e54c49d0_print.html>.
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D55284&title=%E2%80%9CClub%20for%20Growth%20takes%20aim%20at%20Obamacare%20as%20it%20continues%20to%20take%20on%20GOP%20from%20the%20right%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in Uncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
"Rand Paul wants to restore felons' voting rights"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55295>
Posted on September 16, 2013 12:49 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55295>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WaPo reports
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/09/16/rand-paul-wants-to-restore-felons-voting-rights/>.
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D55295&title=%E2%80%9CRand%20Paul%20wants%20to%20restore%20felons%E2%80%99%20voting%20rights%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in felon voting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=66>
"A Note On Federal Campaign Finance Reform: Limiting The Right To
Make Campaign Contributions Without Violating The First Amendment"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55293>
Posted on September 16, 2013 12:12 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55293>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
William G. Grigsby, Professor Emeritus of City and Regional Planning,
University of Pennsylvania, has writtenthis draft.
<http://www.scribd.com/doc/168662062/A-Note-on-Federal-Campaign-Finance-Reform-Limiting-the-Right-to-Make-Campaign-Contributions-Without-Violating-the-First-Amendment>
Here is the abstract:
The Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election
Commission 130 S. Ct. 876 (2010), spawned an almost immediate
outpouring of campaign donations by corporations, unions, and
wealthy individuals to Presidential and Congressional.candidates.
The bulk of these new contributions are made through so-called Super
PACs and non-profit social welfare organizations (501(c)(4)s that
run campaigns supporting particular candidates while maintaining, at
least on paper, their independence from the campaigns of these
candidates. Even if the large contributions unleashed by Citizens
United do not lead to quid pro quo corruption or the appearance
thereof (and they clearly do the latter) they have a devastating
impact on America's representative democracy by enabling a
relatively few wealthy individuals and large corporations and unions
to have overwhelming influence over elected officials and election
outcomes, and in the process to substantially weaken the influence
of the people that candidates and office holders are supposed to
represent. According to one reputable study, in federal elections
the candidate with the largest war chest wins 94 percent of the
time. It is not simply the size of some contributions that is a
problem, it is equally or more so the fact that the large donors,
can vote with their dollars for candidates anywhere in the country.
In so doing, they are undermining this country's representative
democracy and replacing it with a political system best
characterized as governance by the wealthy few -- an unvarnished
plutocracy.
Most regrettably, none of the remedies which have been proposed to
address this problem would do very much to solve it. They leave the
Citizens United largely untouched, and they only peripherally
address the federal campaign finance excesses that were already in
place prior to Citizens United. If representative democracy in the
United States is to be saved, five changes in current law must be made:
1. The right to make financial contributions in a federal election
campaign, whether directly to a candidate or through a PAC or Super
PAC or a 50l(c0(4) organization, must be restricted to eligible
voters in the political jurisdiction in which the election is being
held. Rephrased, the right 'to make contributions must be
co-terminus with the right to vote. Voters in a Congressional
District should not have the value of their franchise diluted by
donations coming from outside their District or by non-natural
persons domiciled within their District. Placing boundaries on
voting speech but not on contributions speech -- the need for which
exists only because of the prior right of citizens to exercise
voting speech- makes no sense either Constitutionally or in terms of
simple logic.
2. For this proscription not to violate the freedom of speech
portion of the First Amendment, the Supreme Court must abandon the
legal fiction that political donations are a form of speech no
different from ordinary speech. Like construction loans that enable
a home to be built, money is usually needed if political speech is
to be heard, but it is not synonymous with that speech. To argue
otherwise is a grievous error in logic.
3. Contributions that are made through the Super PAC
independent-expenditure campaigns (IECs ), and 50 1( c)( 4)s by
persons and entities that are ineligible to cast a ballot must also
be prohibited because they are not functionally different from
either direct contributions or contributions made through PACs
despite their presumed independence from the campaigns of the
candidates they are assisting.
4. With respect to contributions to Presidential candidates, both
the primary campaigns and the general election must be treated as 51
separate campaigns because that is exactly what they are. In the
primaries, the general rules and regulations vary hugely from state
to state, and in the general election, the electoral college in
effect makes that contest a collection of individual state
elections, not a single national one.
5. In order to prevent the above restrictions from being
circumvented through the mis-use of so-called issue ads, any such ad
that includes the name of one of the candidates for office should be
treated as electioneering and subject to the same rules as those for
campaign contributions generally. Absent these reforms, we can kiss
the great American experiment in representative democracy good-bye.
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D55293&title=%E2%80%9CA%20Note%20On%20Federal%20Campaign%20Finance%20Reform%3A%20Limiting%20The%20Right%20To%20Make%20Campaign%20Contributions%20Without%20Violating%20The%20First%20Amendment%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
"The Corporation and the Little Guy in the 11th Circuit"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55291>
Posted on September 16, 2013 9:49 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55291>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bauer's latest <http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2013/09/5736/>.
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D55291&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Corporation%20and%20the%20Little%20Guy%20in%20the%2011th%20Circuit%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
"Voting Rights Act leading California cities to dump at-large
elections" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55289>
Posted on September 16, 2013 7:46 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=55289>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
LA Times reports
<http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-local-elections-20130915,0,409412,full.story>.
This is the California Voting Rights Act, not the federal one.
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D55289&title=%E2%80%9CVoting%20Rights%20Act%20leading%20California%20cities%20to%20dump%20at-large%20elections%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in Voting Rights Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
--
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
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20130916/e7648d17/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: share_save_171_16.png
Type: image/png
Size: 1504 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20130916/e7648d17/attachment.png>
View list directory