[EL] more news 8/5/14

Tue Aug 5 13:33:02 PDT 2014

    "Conservatives Target Tennessee Justices in Expensive Race"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64033>

Posted on August 5, 2014 1:27 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64033>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Important NYT report. 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/us/conservatives-target-tennessee-justices-in-expensive-race.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0>

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

    "Wisconsin asks court to OK voter ID for 2014 election"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64028>

Posted on August 5, 2014 12:35 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64028>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Josh Gerstein 
<http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2014/08/wisconsin-asks-court-to-ok-voter-id-for-election-193462.html>:

    The State of Wisconsin is asking a federal appeals court to allow
    Wisconsin's voter identification law to be enforced during this
    fall's general election.

    In a filing Tuesday with the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals,
    lawyers for the state ask that a federal district court judge's
    injunction blocking the law
    <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/wisconsin-voter-id-law-106153.html>
    on grounds that it would racially discriminatory be lifted until the
    state's appeal of that decision can be resolved.

WORTH NOTING: The state of Wisconsin on page 13 of its motion 
<http://images.politico.com/global/2014/08/05/wiscvoteridstaylift.pdf> 
says that voter fraud is "real" in Wisconsin citing the same evidence as 
the Wisconsin Supreme Court did: evidence that a Scott Walker supporter 
allegedly committed 13 acts of fraud, at least 12 of which would not be 
stopped by a voter id law.  See my earlier post: Irony Dept: Only 
Evidence of Voter Fraud Cited by WI Supreme Court Involves Scott Walker 
Supporter Committing Fraud ID Law Would Not Prevent 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=63868>.

The next question to arise is whether Judge Posner will recuse if and 
when the matter gets to him, given the controversy 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=62722>about what he's said 
<http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/23/why-judge-posner-is-right-on-voter-id-laws.html> 
about voter id from his role in the earlier /Crawford/ case.

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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>

    Wertheimer: "It's Chief Justice Roberts who is "divorced from
    reality"" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64026>

Posted on August 5, 2014 12:28 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64026>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

See here. 
<http://www.democracy21.org/inside-the-courts/press-releases-inside-the-courts/wertheimer-its-chief-justice-roberts-who-is-divorced-from-reality/>

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

    "Va. attorney general warns voter ID definition may be
    unconstitutional" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64024>

Posted on August 5, 2014 12:01 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64024>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Times Dispatch reports. 
<http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/state-regional/ag-warns-voter-id-definition-may-be-unconstitutional/article_baffec5c-1cc7-11e4-b8d9-001a4bcf6878.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>

    "Making every vote count" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64022>

Posted on August 5, 2014 11:26 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64022>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Katrina Vanden Heuvel 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/katrina-vanden-heuvel-undermining-the-electoral-college-to-protect-the-popular-vote/2014/08/04/f7199b6a-1c14-11e4-ae54-0cfe1f974f8a_story.html> 
on NPV electoral college reform.

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Posted in electoral college <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>

    "The Democracy We Left Behind in Greece and McCutcheon"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64020>

Posted on August 5, 2014 9:32 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64020>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy has posted this draft 
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2468137> on SSRN.  
Here is the abstract:

    The U.S. Supreme Court used to regularly police the line between
    political and economic spheres and the line between Church and
    State. The Court in 2014 abandoned both posts. As evidenced by
    McCutcheon v. FEC, the Supreme Court is not protecting democracy
    from creeping oligarchy served up one campaign contribution at a
    time. As evidenced by Town of Greece v. Galloway, the Supreme Court
    is not protecting democracy from creeping theocracy served up one
    public prayer at a time. In both areas of First Amendment law (Free
    Speech and Establishment Clause), the Court feigns neutrality when
    it is really picking sides and the side that the Court picks is the
    one that already has the most power. This short essay will explore
    how the modern Court's Establishment Clause jurisprudence parallels
    its campaign finance jurisprudence and how both have the potential
    to create a privileged class and a second class.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme 
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

    "The McDaniel Hostage Crisis -- Day 41 -- Dem polls, Rickey Cole,
    the Fraudulent Fraud Squad & 11B" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64018>

Posted on August 5, 2014 9:14 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64018>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Y'all Politics <http://yallpolitics.com/index.php/yp/post/38938/> on 
McDaniel.

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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>

    "Pro-Troop Charity Misleads Donors While Lining Political
    Consultants' Pockets" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64016>

Posted on August 5, 2014 9:09 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64016>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Kim Barker Pro Publica investigation 
<http://www.propublica.org/article/pro-troop-charity-misleads-donors-while-lining-political-consultants-pocket>.

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

    Maggie McKinley's Madison Project <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64013>

Posted on August 5, 2014 9:06 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64013>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center 
<http://www.challengestodemocracy.us/home/frontiers-of-democracy-research-a-fresh-perspective-on-lobbying-and-political-access/#more-1205>: 
"In this post, Richa Mishra explores Maggie McKinley's work on The 
Madison Project, an online legislative crowd-sourcing platform, and its 
implications for the practice, function, and constitutional contours of 
federal lobbying. McKinley is a Climenko Fellow at Harvard Law School 
and recent Democracy Fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance 
and Innovation. She researches and writes on legislation, theories of 
interpretation, minority rights and representation, and the architecture 
of lawmaking institutions. McKinley hopes to move the current rhetoric 
around reform away from a focus on majority control and a demonization 
of lobbyists toward a more productive discussion of procedural injustice 
and political access."

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

    Writing for a General Audience <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64011>

Posted on August 5, 2014 9:04 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64011>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The two best pieces of advice I got about writing came many years 
apart.  When I was a JD/PhD student Professor (now Judge) John Wiley 
told me: "Write. Write a lot. But don't write crap."  This was advice 
for breaking into the academic market.

Many years later I was talking to David Pervin, then an editor at the 
University of Chicago Press (now at Oxford) 
<http://global.oup.com/academic/contactus/editorial/david-pervin;jsessionid=57EE7873EB0C57C860ECC8E32BCE76D4?cc=us&lang=en&>, 
about a book proposal for what became /The Voting Wars./  The book was 
originally entitled "Election Administration Wars: Causes, Consequences 
and Cures in the Internet Era."  David's advice: "Why don't you write a 
book people will actually read?"  That advice completely changed the 
nature of my book, and my writing generally. It was such a pleasure to 
write /The Voting/ /Wars/ in a conversational style, and I'm writing my 
new campaign finance book for Yale using the same style.

I was reminded of this when I sawEmily Bazelon link 
<https://twitter.com/emilybazelon/status/496635956288831488>toThe Jargon 
Trap 
<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/04/the-jargon-trap/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=Moth-Visible&module=inside-nyt-region&region=inside-nyt-region&WT.nav=inside-nyt-region&_r=2&> 
by David Tuller at NYT's Opinionator Blog. It is full of terrific advice 
on writing for a general audience. It is very much in line with Emily's 
editing style. She is relentless in seeking clarity and eschewing 
obfuscation.

Emily and Dahlia Lithwick also had a terrific dialogue 
<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/behind_the_scenes/2014/03/how_to_pitch_legal_articles_to_slate_s_jurisprudence_section.html> 
about writing for Slate, behind the Slate Plus paywall. (You can sign up 
for a two week trial, and then, as I did, fork over the $50 for some 
excellent additional content.)

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

    "GOP Launches Big Money Effort" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64008>

Posted on August 5, 2014 8:45 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64008>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Byron Tau 
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/republicans-targeted-state-victory-fundraising-109724.html> 
for Politico:

    Republicans are launching a fundraising effort that will let donors
    cut six-figure checks to support GOP Senate candidates this fall ---
    a move that capitalizes on the Supreme Court's landmark /McCutcheon
    v. FEC /decision.

    Senate Republicans have filed paperwork to form the Targeted State
    Victory Committee --- a joint fundraising effort between the
    National Republican Senatorial Committee and Republican state
    parties in 13 Senate battleground states.

Now we are up to $162,000 in a single check. We will see if we reach the 
multi-million dollar joint checks feared by reformers in the runup to 
the McCutcheon case.  We'll need to give it an election cycle or two.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

    "Independent Myers sues Gant to replace running mate"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64006>

Posted on August 5, 2014 8:42 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64006>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Argus Leader 
<http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/politics/2014/08/05/independent-myers-sues-gant-replace-running-mate/13610769/>: 
"Independent gubernatorial candidate Mike Myers on Monday sued [SD] 
Secretary of State Jason Gant for not letting him replace his running 
mate on the November ballot."

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Posted in ballot access <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=46>, campaigns 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

    Ventura County Anti-Pension Ballot Measure Booted from Ballot
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64004>

Posted on August 5, 2014 8:39 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64004>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

See here 
<http://www.vcstar.com/news/local-news/county-news/tentative-ruling-removes-pension-initiative-from-ballot_47085281>.

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Posted in direct democracy <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=62>

    DC Circuit, Quoting Mick Jagger, Stops This Insanity in Campaign
    Finance Case <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64001>

Posted on August 5, 2014 8:38 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64001>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Stop This Insanity v. FEC 
<http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/0314FC7B537C2A3985257D2B004DFAC6/$file/13-5008-1506093.pdf> 
has one of the best openings for a court opinion I've read in a while 
(Judge Janice Rogers Brown):

    BROWN, Circuit Judge. The iconic musician Mick Jagger famously
    mused, "You can't always get what you want. But if you try
    sometimes, well, you just might find, you get what you need." The
    Rolling Stones, You Can't Always Get What You Want, on Let It Bleed
    (Decca Records 1969). Here, Stop This Insanity---a grassroots
    organization---wants to remove the congressionally-imposed binds on
    solicitation by separate segregated funds, a type of political
    action committee connected to a parent corporation. What it needs,
    however, it already has---an unrestrained vehicle, in the form of
    that parent corporation, which can engage in unlimited political
    spending. Because this less-obsolete and less-onerous alternative
    exists, we decline Stop This Insanity's invitation for us to tinker
    with what has become a statutory artifact.

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

    "Super PACs' spending isn't always welcomed by candidates they
    support" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=63999>

Posted on August 5, 2014 8:33 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=63999>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo reports. 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/super-pacs-spending-isnt-always-welcomed-by-candidates-they-support/2014/08/04/ecc36ed6-18ed-11e4-9349-84d4a85be981_story.html>

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

    "Lois Lerner's conservative bashing: Smoking gun or just cause for
    investigation?" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=63997>

Posted on August 5, 2014 8:32 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=63997>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo reports. 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2014/08/04/lois-lerners-conservative-bashing-smoking-gun-or-just-cause-for-investigation/>

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Posted in tax law and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>

-- 
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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