[EL] ELB News and Commentary 4/13/14
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Sun Apr 13 09:46:02 PDT 2014
With Leland Yee Out, Is CA Secretary of State Race Wide Open?
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60439>
Posted on April 13, 2014 9:33 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60439>by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Front page
<http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-secretary-of-state-20140413,0,5294613.story#axzz2ymgVCh2C>
of the CA section of today's /LA Times. /What's interesting is that
there are two potentially viable reform candidates in the race
<http://graphics.latimes.com/towergraphic-candidates-california-secretary-state/>,
Derek Cressman (running as a Democrat, and formerly of Common Cause) and
Dan Schnur (of USC's Jesse Unruh Institute, formerly a Republican but
running as a "no party preference" candidate). Further, the Green Party
candidate David Curtis is making modification of the two-two primary,
because it makes it harder for third party or independent candidates to
run, one of his main issues.
This is the first statewide race under top-two where things seem open to
a third party or non-party candidate. Nonetheless, party id still
matters a lot under top two, as may name recognition. The new Field Poll
<http://field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/Rls2465.pdf.>has
Republican Pete Peterson leading with 30% followed by Democrat Alex
Padilla with 17%. Part of the issue is that this is a low salience race
and the party preference on the general election ballot could make a
difference.
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Posted in campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, primaries
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32>
"Google, once disdainful of lobbying, now a master of Washington
influence" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60437>
Posted on April 13, 2014 9:20 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60437>by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Your Sunday morning reading from WaPo
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-google-is-transforming-power-and-politicsgoogle-once-disdainful-of-lobbying-now-a-master-of-washington-influence/2014/04/12/51648b92-b4d3-11e3-8cb6-284052554d74_story.html>,
which begins:
In May 2012, the law school at George Mason University hosted a
forum billed as a "vibrant discussion" about Internet search
competition. Many of the major players in the field were there ---
regulators from the Federal Trade Commission, federal and state
prosecutors, top congressional staffers.
What the guests had not been told was that the day-long academic
conference was in large part the work of Google
<http://washpost.bloomberg.com/marketnews/stockdetail/?symbol=GOOG>,
which maneuvered behind the scenes with GMU's Law & Economics Center
<http://www.masonlec.org/> to put on the event. At the time, the
company was under FTC investigation over concerns about the
dominance of its famed search engine, a case that threatened
Google's core business.
In the weeks leading up to the GMU event, Google executives
suggested potential speakers and guests, sending the center's staff
a detailed spreadsheet listing members of Congress, FTC
commissioners, and senior officials with the Justice Department and
state attorney general's offices.
"If you haven't sent out the invites yet, please use the attached
spreadsheet, which contains updated info," Google legal assistant
Yang Zhang wrote to Henry Butler, executive director of the law
center, according to internal e-mails obtained by The Washington
Post
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/2014/04/12/how-google-worked-behind-the-scenes-to-invite-federal-regulators-to-conferences/>
through a public records request. "If you've sent out the invites,
would it be possible to add a few more?"
Butler replied, "We're on it!"
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Posted in lobbying <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>
"FairVote Survey Shows Support for Takoma Park Voting Reforms"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60435>
Posted on April 13, 2014 9:16 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60435>by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Rob Richie blogs
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-richie/fairvote-survey-shows-sup_b_5134618.html>.
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Posted in alternative voting systems <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=63>
"Ranked Choice Voting and Civility: New Evidence from American
Cities" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60433>
Posted on April 13, 2014 9:15 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60433>by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
New FairVote report
<http://www.fairvote.org/assets/Ranked-Choice-Voting-Civility-Study-April-2014.pdf>,
which begins:
Ranked choice voting (RCV) has been associated with a range of civic
benefits, but in the context of the polarized politics of the United
States its potential to promote civil and inclusive campaigns is
especially promising. As the use of ranked choice voting has
increased in the U.S. -- including adoptions in Minnesota's Twin
Cities and the Bay Area in California -- there is now more data
available to test this idea in American elections. Highlights from
two recent studies provide strong evidence that RCV has been
embraced by voters and candidates alike, who see RCV as a means of
reducing divisive politics and fostering more positive, inclusive,
and informative campaigns.
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Posted in alternative voting systems <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=63>
Jeff Toobin and Ryan Lizza Discuss McCutcheon on New Yorker Podcast
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60431>
Posted on April 13, 2014 9:13 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60431>by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Here.
<http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2014/04/political-scene-little-chance-for-campaign-finance-reform.html?utm_source=tny&utm_campaign=generalsocial&utm_medium=twitter&mbid=social_twitter>
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
"Mudslinging at the FEC over disclosure"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60429>
Posted on April 13, 2014 9:12 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60429>by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
CPI
<http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/04/11/14577/mudslinging-fec-over-disclosure>:
"Federal Election Commission Chairman Lee Goodman and two of his fellow
Republican colleagues skewered Vice Chairwoman Ann Ravel --- a Democrat
--- on Thursday because she didn't vote to defend the agency last month
against litigation from campaign finance reform-minded organizations."
My earlier coverage is here <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60346>.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal
election commission <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>
"COMMENTARY: Free speech just got more expensive"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60427>
Posted on April 13, 2014 9:09 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60427>by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Jusus Baird of Religion News Service has written a commentary
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/commentary-free-speech-just-got-more-expensive/2014/04/08/3522733c-bf54-11e3-9ee7-02c1e10a03f0_story.html>
which begins:
/D/ear Supreme Court justices: When I heard about the McCutcheon v.
Federal Election Commission ruling, it made me plotz.
I'm a rabbi, so I know much more about the Talmud than about torts.
But if there's any group that can compete with scholars of
constitutional law, it's rabbis.
Your recent decision was all about the First Amendment and free speech.
As I understand it, legal scholars have interpreted that word
"speech" to include "political expression." So far, I'm with you. I
think the freedom of being able to talk politics without fear of
reprisal, whether you are a mighty politician or a lowly voter, is A-OK.
But when you said that political expression is the same as a
campaign contribution, you lost me.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
Zack Roth on Obama's Latest Volley in the Voting Wars
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60425>
Posted on April 13, 2014 9:05 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60425>by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Here <http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/obama-democrats-go-all-voting-rights>,
at MSNBC.
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
"Florida no longer part of controversial national voter data
project" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60423>
Posted on April 13, 2014 9:04 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60423>by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Miami Herald
<http://electionlawblog.org/Florida%20no%20longer%20part%20of%20controversial%20national%20voter%20data%20project%20%20Read%20more%20here:%20http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2014/04/florida-no-longer-part-of-controversial-national-voter-data-project.html#storylink=cpy>:
For those following the issue of voter fraud nationwide, this
fact-check by PunditFact of a claim by Fox News commentator Dick
Morris is a must-read.
Morris said that "probably over a million people" voted twice in the
2012 general election nationwide. PunditFact rated that False ---
and you can read the full report here
<http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/apr/10/dick-morris/dick-morris-theres-proof-over-1-million-people-vot/>.
Morris was referring to data from a project dubbed Interstate
Crosscheck run by Republican Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.
As of 2013, 28 states sent voter information to Kansas where the
record of each of their voters is run against the records in all the
other participating states. They are matched on first name, last
name, date of birth and Social Security number.
Interstate Crosscheck's own guide for states includes an important
caveat that tends to get overlooked: "a significant number of
apparent double votes are false positives and not double votes. Many
are the result of errors --- voters sign the wrong line in the poll
book, election clerks scan the wrong line with a barcode scanner."
Interstate Crosscheck's reports in 2013 include Florida data based
on the 2012 election. However, Florida is absent from the 2014
report. We asked a spokeswoman for Republican Secretary of State Ken
Detzner why Florida dropped out.
Dan Smith
<http://electionsmith.wordpress.com/2014/04/12/kansas-sos-kobachs-interstate-voter-registration-matching-program-so-unreliable-even-florida-has-opted-out/>:
Kansas SOS Kobach's interstate voter registration matching program so
unreliable, even Florida has opted out
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
--
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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